Women form a vital backbone of South Africa’s agricultural sector. They own or operate roughly one in five commercial farming units and make up about a third of agricultural jobs, while playing an even larger role in small-scale and subsistence farming.
Rural communities they keep households fed, supply local markets, and contribute substantially to food production and household resilience. Their labour and knowledge sustain many of the country’s food systems, yet their voices have often remained underrepresented in the decisions that shape the industry.
Despite this contribution, women farmers continue to face structural barriers. Insecure land rights and limited ownership make it difficult to use land as collateral for credit. Access to formal finance, training, extension services, markets, and leadership positions remains constrained. Gender-blind programmes frequently overlook these realities, so women gain fewer benefits from initiatives designed to support emerging farmers. The result is lower productivity potential, restricted growth of women-led enterprises, and missed opportunities for the broader sector.
Providing dedicated platforms for women to share their experiences and opinions addresses these gaps directly. When women speak openly about challenges such as land tenure, access to inputs, biosecurity measures, climate adaptation, or market barriers, policymakers and industry bodies receive practical, ground-level insights that improve the design of programmes. Platforms allow women to influence land-reform beneficiary selection, agricultural master plans, credit schemes, and commodity association strategies. They also enable the exchange of knowledge among farmers, strengthen networks, and build leadership capacity.
News release: Winner of the 2026 Women’s Voice in Agriculture Competition announced
Amplifying women’s voices delivers wider benefits. It advances gender equity, improves household food security and rural livelihoods, and supports more inclusive and sustainable growth. Programmes that incorporate women’s input are more likely to succeed because they account for the realities faced by a large share of producers. In a sector already navigating climate pressures, disease outbreaks, and the need to expand production and exports, inclusive decision-making strengthens resilience and competitiveness.
Future Agri Perspectives (also referred to as Future Agri Perspective) is a South African initiative that creates professional platforms for people in the agricultural value chain to share their views on relevant issues. One of its main programmes is the annual Women’s Voice in Agriculture awards, which specifically gives women in agriculture a structured opportunity to voice their opinions and influence broader discussions.
The competition has run for several years (with editions in 2023/2024, 2025 and 2026). In 2025, for example, wheat breeder and researcher Elaine van Eeden was named the winner. The 2026 edition featured finalists including Boniswa Kuhle Dlamini, Carla Myburgh, Christel Basson, Grietha van Rensburg and Petru Fourie, with the winner announced around the end of July 2026.
At the same prestigious gala events where the Women’s Voice in Agriculture competition winners and finalists are announced, Future Agri Perspectives also formally acknowledges and honours the work of many professional and pioneering women in South African agriculture.These special tributes recognise women who have made significant, long-term contributions to the sector — often in research, leadership, science, policy, agribusiness, or technical roles. The organisers describe these awards as a way to honour those who “paved the way” so that the next generation of women can follow more easily.
Recent examples:
- 2026: Annelise Crosby (Legal Specialist, Agbiz), Dr Renée Prins (Founding Director, CenGen), Dr Fhumulani Ratshitanga (CEO, Fruit SA), Wiana Louw (General Manager, Southern African Grain Laboratory), and Rona Beukes (Senior Statistician, Department of Agriculture).
- 2025: Dr Marinda Visser, Karen Nel (Design Biologix), Prof Driekie Fourie, and Prof Sonja Venter, among others.
- 2024: Prof Estie van Marle-Köster, Dr Langa Simela, Mariana Purnell, Dr Lukeshni Chetty, and Prof Hettie Schönfeldt.
Women’s Voice in Agriculture is a prestigious event on the farming and agricultural calendar that continues to grow each year.”
Giving women in agriculture a clear platform is therefore not only a matter of fairness. It is a practical necessity for building a more productive, equitable, and future-ready agricultural sector in South Africa.
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