The Brazilian government and the United Nations for Food and Agriculture (FAO) are expected to launch the Observatory of Rural Women in Brazil in April, a program aimed at women engaged in agribusiness in the country. The project is in the final stages of development and is part of a partnership between Embrapa, the Ministry of Agriculture and FAO. 
The observatory will gather studies, articles, data, publications and specific events for women farmers, who are present in all production chains of Brazilian agriculture. With the information gathered, it will be possible to develop specific public policies for this public, such as socioeconomic studies and impact assessment of developed programs.
According to Cristina Arzabe, a researcher at Embrapa, the gathering of relevant information in a single place will make it possible to identify trends and future scenarios to allow the preparation of women farmers for challenges and opportunities.
“It is a joint effort that aims to obtain a systemic view of the conditions of rural and peri-urban women, since we have different realities in our country due to its continental dimensions”, he said.
The general coordinator of cooperativism at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fabiana Durgant, believes that Brazil and the world recognize the search for gender equality and the importance of women working in the fields.
“It will also be possible to have a clearer view of women’s participation and organization in agriculture and how they contribute to sustainable development,” he commented.
According to the 2017 Agricultural Census, the most recent collected by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the participation of women in the management of agricultural establishments increased between 2006 and 2017, from 12.7% to 18.7% of the total of 5.056 million producers.
*With information from FAO
