The year 2026 was declared the International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF). This provides a timely global platform to recognize, celebrate, and amplify the contributions of women in agriculture.
In line with this, and to commemorate International Women’s Month 2026, the Uganda Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (UFAAS), together with the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS), hosted an insightful webinar on the role of women in agricultural extension and advisory services.
Timely to spotlight and celebrate women’s contributions to agricultural extension, the webinar took place on 31st March 2026 under the theme Women’s Role in Cultivating Effective and Efficient Agricultural Extension Services Amongst Smallholder Farmers.
The session brought together participants from across Africa and beyond, including Uganda, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Germany, to reflect on how extension services can better serve women and smallholder farmers.
At its core, the discussion focused on building the capacity of both women farmers and extension agents to confidently demand, access, and deliver services that respond to their realities- bringing to life the idea that by “giving” women the tools, voice, and space they deserve, the sector stands to “gain” stronger, more inclusive, and more resilient agricultural systems.
Woman farmer winnowing soybean. Credit @UFAAS
Setting the Stage
In his opening remarks, Dr. Richard Miiro, Board Chairperson of UFAAS, emphasized the urgent need to support women in extension systems. He noted that creating a more enabling environment for both extension providers and farmers is key to improving agricultural productivity and livelihoods.
“We must create a more conducive environment for both extension service providers and the farmers they serve.” he remarked.
Women as Drivers of Agricultural Transformation
Despite contributing nearly half of the agricultural labor, barriers such gender norms, limited access to land, credit, and information continue to hold them back.
During the webinar, speakers stressed that women play a critical role as custodians of agriculture.
“Women should be seen as central actors in extension services, not passive beneficiaries.”remarked Beatrice Luzobe, CEO of UFAAS.
In her Keynote speech, Ms, Prospera Anku emphasized that investing in women, through visibility, opportunity, and support, yields powerful returns for food security, rural development, and agricultural transformation. She challenged the audience to rethink assumptions, noting that “treating unequal groups equally does not create fairness and challenged participants to rethink how extension services are designed.
“If extension services are not designed with women in mind, they will continue to exclude them.”
She also called for intentional recruitment of female extension workers, tailoring training programs for women, and services that respond to the specific needs of women farmers
Voices from the Field
The webinar also featured powerful personal stories from women in extension and farming. Prossy Zalwango Kyasanga, a Principal Agriculture Officer in Buikwe District Local Government shared her journey on how was was inspired to study agriculture after missing her first choice degree in medicine, the challenges she faces as a woman extension worker, from societal pressures to limited resources and mobility constraints.
“Working in extension as a woman requires resilience, especially when resources are limited.”
“In most cases, women often hold back in training, especially when men dominate the conversation,” said Proscovia.
Lydia Adong, a master trainer of the Global (GPSAEP) under UFAAS, highlighted the strong participation of women in farmer training programs, while also noting the need to create safe spaces for women to engage more confidently. She shared about the Farmer Family Learning Approach, the GPSAEP uses to ensure all the member of the household are engaged
From the farmer’s perspective, Shallon Akullo, a mixed enterprises farmer from Lira, spoke about the difficulty of accessing extension services.
“Sometimes the information is not there when we need it, and extension workers are hard to reach.”
What Needs to Change
From the event, a common theme emerged. Many women farmers are willing to learn but face barriers such societal barriers, fear of judgment, limited access to information, and complex information that is hard to understand and use on the farm.
Participants agreed on several practical steps to enhance women’s engagement with extension services, including: using participatory and inclusive training approaches, building trust with farmers, involving entire households in extension interventions, with special targeting for women, strengthening partnerships, scaling successful models, and improving data collection on women in agricultural extension. “Good practices exist, but they are not being implemented at scale.
Full Recording for the webinar
Compiled by Elizabeth Asiimwe.
For correspondence, please contact Beatrice Luzobe on ufaas2013@gmail.com
Credit: @UFAAS