New Delhi Hosts GCWAS 2026: Global Conference on Women in Agri-Food Systems from March 12-14

Union Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare hosts the groundbreaking Global Conference on Women in Agri-Food Systems (GCWAS–2026) in New Delhi from March 12-14, convening 2,000+ international delegates to address gender inequities across $5 trillion global agri value chains. Themed “Empowering Women for Resilient Agri-Food Systems,” GCWAS spotlights women’s 43% workforce contribution versus 13% land ownership, driving policy reforms through evidence-based interventions.
Key agendas tackle structural barriers, access to credit (60% rejection rates for women farmers), technology adoption gaps (35% lower digital tool usage), and climate resilience strategies tailored to female-headed households comprising 22% Indian cultivator families. Sessions feature FAO, IFAD, CGIAR leaders sharing scalable models from Rwanda’s gender budgets to India’s Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana scaling to 10M beneficiaries.
India showcases flagship initiatives: PM-KUSUM solar irrigation benefiting 1.2M women SHGs; NaPanta app’s vernacular advisories reaching 50M women farmers; and ₹6,000 crore women-led FPO corpus catalysing 10,000 enterprises. GCWAS culminates in the Delhi Declaration outlining 50 actionable commitments across 20 nations targeting 30% female agri-credit share by 2030.
Hosted at Vigyan Bhawan amid International Women’s Day momentum, GCWAS aligns with G20 Agri outcomes and Viksit Bharat@2047, emphasising gender-smart agriculture for nutrition security. Expected outcomes include $500M blended finance commitments and national action plans integrating GCWAS recommendations into NAPCC 2.0.