Women Empowerment in Agriculture

This projects aims to estimate the women contribution to the agricultural sector in Indonesia, to describe the portrait of women's empowerment in the agricultural sector in Indonesia, to determine what are the determinants of women's empowerment in the agricultural sector in Indonesia.

This project has been funded by INKLUSI. The Australia-Indonesia Partnership Towards an Inclusive Society, or INKLUSI, is working to increase the participation of marginalized groups in, and their benefit from, Indonesia’s sociocultural, economic, and political development. INKLUSI is a five-year bilateral Australian and Indonesian Government program partnering with 11 Indonesian civil society organisations, 8 research partner institutions and their networks across 32 provinces, >120 districts, and >800 villages in Indonesia.

In addition, this project also collaborated with AISYIYAH in data collection. Aisyiyah is an Islamic non-governmental organization in Indonesia dedicated to female empowerment and charitable work. It was formed on 19 May 1917 by Nyai Ahmad Dahlan to facilitate women's access to education, health care and social services. The organization provides micro-loan and small business development support, family planning services, maternal and pediatric care, orphanages, training for female Muslim clerics, and standard preschool through university level education.

The project highlights the challenges and opportunities for empowering women in Indonesia's agricultural sector. Contributing 11.8% to the national GDP in Q1 2023, agriculture remains a critical economic pillar for rural communities. However, low productivity and high rural dependency on agriculture exacerbate poverty issues. Women's limited access to land, technology, and resources poses significant barriers to enhancing productivity. Empowering women is seen as essential to overcoming these obstacles, enabling them to play a larger role in decision-making and, consequently, increasing agricultural productivity.