Agritech for Women Farmers: A Business Case for Inclusive Growth

12 Dec 2024

Shreejit Borthakur,

Sebastian Buckup,

Piyush Gupta,

Satyanarayana Jeedigunta,

Purushottam Kaushik,

Drishti Kumar,

Abhay Pareek

As the agriculture sector evolves, it is important to ensure that women farmers, who constitute almost half of the agricultural workforce, receive equitable access to resources, including technology. Besides driving food security and gender equality, such gender-inclusive agricultural technologies will also drive the business case for agritech service providers. Hence, there is immense potential for first movers to seize this opportunity. By committing to gender inclusivity in technology design and delivery, service providers can drive significant growth while contributing to sustainable development, thereby making a lasting impact in the sector.

While companies can progress with individual efforts, the road towards gender inclusivity and equality at scale cannot be achieved in isolation. There is a need for a collaborative public-private engagement to effectively deliver solutions to women farmers. Governments must take the role of enablers by addressing systemic issues such as limited digital literacy, prevalent gender biases and restrictions on land ownership. Simultaneously, agritech companies should focus on developing innovative solutions that address the specific needs of women and explore collaboration at a pre-competitive level to build the infrastructure necessary to better serve women farmers.