Blog by: Isla Winarto, Club Programme/UN Liaison Officer, SI Jakarta (Indonesia)
On 19 September 2025, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Rome, in collaboration with the World Farmers Organisation (WFO), held a hybrid roundtable discussion entitled: ‘Sustainability and the Role of Woman Farmer in Agrifood Systems’. In the concept paper for this roundtable, it stated: “With the adoption of UNGA Resolution A/RES/78/279 on 7 May 2024, the United Nations declared 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF). The Resolution highlights the critical role of women in agriculture and addresses the social and economic challenges they face, such as limited access to land, credit, and resources.”
According to the WFO, women farmers globally face a range of barriers and bottlenecks in their daily work. They lack land tenure, and have limited access to financial services or markets. In addition, they are provided fewer training opportunities, face digital gaps and are not actively included in decision making where food policies are defined. Empowering rural women is vital to increase productivity and to face climate change and to support their families better. At this roundtable, the WFO called upon governments, UN agencies and countries, in general, to work with women farmers to build sustainable, fair and resilient futures for all.
The main aim of this roundtable, conducted at the head office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, was to highlight the work, experiences and challenges of smallholders, focusing in particular on women farmers in Indonesia, where over 28 million play an important role in food production (FAO, 2019). Showcased was the situation involving mainly female smallholders in the areas of coffee, palm oil, cacao and rubber farming across Indonesia.
Of serious concern is the planned implementation of the stringent EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) at the end of 2025, which will affect seven commodities, including cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, wood, rubber and cattle and their derivatives/products. The four Indonesian women farmers, who presented at this roundtable, expressed their views that while the EUDR will undoubtedly serve to protect forests from degradation, it should also take into consideration the protection of women farmers. Currently, the EUDR, as it stands, is lengthy, outlining numerous administrative steps and processes, requiring, among other things, due diligence, maintaining information systems, country risk classifications and more. If these are to be implemented fully, it will be burdensome and could further marginalise women farmers, especially in Indonesia, where the majority lack training, the financial means for and understanding and guidance in such matters.
Failure to protect women farmers could potentially lead to a negative impact on global supply chains, which in turn could weaken national economies and foreign exchange earnings, not to mention a steep decline in farmers’ livelihoods. Under the EUDR, women farmers are likely to be much further at risk.
While no solutions were offered at the roundtable, there was an appeal by the Indonesian women farmers not to introduce top down laws and regulations that create further hardship for them. They are already contending with the effects of climate change, low crops, pests, and poor quality produce. If laws such as EUDR are to be introduced, consideration should be given to providing women farmers access to advice and training, financial resources, and a longer period of adaptation to adjust to the new rules.
