The year 2025 marks the beginning of the final five years of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs. Achieving SDG 5—gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls—seems out of reach by 2030. Yet, greater gender equality and inclusion are essential for attaining all other SDGs.

The poly-crises of COVID-19, climate change, conflict, and food crises have not only halted but, in many cases, reversed progress toward gender equality. In agri-food systems, unequal gender and social relations undermine responses to these crises and hinder the resilience of rural communities and landscapes. A 2023 estimate suggests that an extra $360 billion per year is needed to achieve gender equality and empower women by 2030.

The international conference “Accelerating Equality in Food, Land, and Water Systems: Driving Solutions through Evidence and Learning” follows the tradition of the biennial CGIAR GENDER conferences. It will bring together researchers from various organizations (academia, NARES, NGOs, and CSOs), policy makers and development practitioners, and representatives of local communities and farmer organizations, who work toward creating innovations and generating evidence to transform agrifood systems. Discussions will focus on refreshing, innovating, and accelerating progress in gender equality and social inclusion within food, land, and water systems, crucial for a sustainable, climate-resilient world free from hunger and malnutrition. Furthermore, we aim at ‘raising awareness of and directing policy attention to the barriers and challenges that women [and youth] farmers face across agrifood systems, as well as the initiatives, policies and actions that can and are being taken to address these issues and achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women in agriculture (UNGA A/RES/78/279)’ in anticipation of the International Year of the Woman Farmer, 2026.

The conference will be held in Cape Town and is co-organized by the CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform and partners.

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