swediworldOn International Workers’ Day, SWEDIWorld’s founder reflected on something she first noticed years ago: smallholder farmers are workers too, especially women.
They grow the food, sustain households and keep local food systems running, yet they are often left out of how “workers” are defined and supported in real terms. Through its work with adolescent girls and smallholder farming communities, SWEDIWorld has seen the gap play out in real time.
The reflection recalls a conversation at COP26 about smallholder farmers and climate change, one of the clearest moments in which it became plain how central women smallholders are to food systems and climate adaptation, and how far removed they are from tools, financing and support.
The question SWEDIWorld puts to policymakers and partners: which workers are still invisible in the systems we continue to design?