Empowering Women in Agriculture: YPARD Kenya at the Together Conference

The Together Conference, held in Nairobi, Kenya, from February 18th to 20th, 2025, provided a powerful platform for amplifying the voices of women in agriculture. Organized by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), in collaboration with Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, AMKA Africa, and CARE, the event aimed to drive gender-transformative approaches in food security and sustainable agriculture.

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Strengthening Women's Voices for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems

The Together Conference provided a platform to amplify the voices of women in agriculture and food systems, fostering collaboration among policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and farmers. The event aimed to advance gender-transformative approaches, ensuring that women play an active role in shaping food security and sustainable agricultural systems.

Women contribute significantly to agriculture, driving innovation, sustaining communities, and ensuring food security. However, gender disparities continue to hinder their full participation in decision-making, resource access, and agribusiness opportunities. The discussions at the conference emphasized the need to move from dialogue to actionable solutions, integrating gender, climate, and nutrition into policies and programs.

Key Discussions and Sessions

I had the privilege of representing YPARD Kenya at the conference, engaging in keynote discussions, panel sessions, and workshops. My contribution at the following two panel sessions, focused on youth empowerment, policy engagement, and innovative financing models for women and young agripreneurs:

1. Spotlight & Soft Talk Session

• Introduced YPARD Kenya’s mission and advocacy efforts, including contributions to Kenya’s first Youth in Agribusiness Strategy.
• Highlighted the importance of innovative financing models for women and youth in agriculture.

2. Parallel Session: Next Gen Leaders – Empowering Youth in Agriculture

• A Vision for Youth in Agriculture: Young people should lead as innovators, policymakers, and agripreneurs.
• Addressing Key Challenges: Limited access to resources, finance, and decision-making spaces remains a major barrier.
• Proposed Solutions:
  • Establishing e-learning platforms for short courses, masterclasses, and fellowships.
  • Strengthening youth leadership capacities within organizations.
  • Connecting young agripreneurs to business incubation centers such as the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute.
  • Enhancing financial access by supporting youth to become investor-ready.
  • Ensuring meaningful youth participation in policy formulation and implementation.

A key takeaway from the session was that young people are often engaged at the final stages of policy-making rather than throughout the process. For true impact, policies must be shaped with youth involvement from the outset.

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Key Takeaways from the Conference
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• Intersectionality matters: Women’s experiences vary based on their contexts; solutions must reflect these diverse realities.

• Stop drafting, start implementing: Existing policies and frameworks should be put into action rather than continuously revised.

• Innovative engagement methods: Creative tools like theatre can be used to illustrate and address socio-cultural challenges, such as land rights for widows.

• The triple nexus approach: Gender, climate, and nutrition must be integrated into all agricultural programs.

• Strengthening networks and partnerships: Collaboration among stakeholders is critical for driving sustainable agricultural transformation.

• Building Women’s Leadership Capacity: Strengthening farmer organizations led by women is critical.

• Engaging Men and Boys: Achieving gender equality in agriculture requires the active involvement of men and boys.

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Moving Forward: From Conversations to Action

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The Together Conference concluded with the launch of a Community of Practice to sustain discussions and drive action. The event reinforced the need for collective, coordinated efforts to break barriers, build bridges, and implement gender-responsive strategies in agriculture.

A key priority moving forward is ensuring that women and youth have access to innovative financing models to drive agribusiness growth. YPARD Kenya remains committed to fostering youth leadership, advocacy, and resource accessibility to advance a more inclusive and resilient food system.

Through multi-stakeholder collaboration, the focus must shift towards implementing solutions, ensuring that women and youth are not just participants but decision-makers and leaders in agriculture.

Together, we must turn conversations into action!

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