This publication aims to fill existinggaps in the literature regarding women’s paid employment inagribusiness, especially with respect to emerging economies.Women workers’ contribution to agribusiness is neither fullyunderstood nor fully valued. The majority of research onwomen’s participation in agribusiness in emerging economiesfocuses on small-holder farming contexts, rather than directemployment relationships or women’s participation inmanagement. Furthermore, there is limited analysis of thebusiness gains associated with proactive interventionsrelated to women’s employment. This publication aims to fillthese gaps by:Providing a practical look atenterprise-level practices on women’s employment inagribusiness; and Considering how companies can bettersupport women employees and how this can have a positiveimpact on companies’ bottom line. There is an establishedbusiness case for private sector investment in women’semployment, which also applies to agribusiness. Companiesthat invest in women can improve their access to labor andtalent, can lower the costs of recruitment and (re)trainingby reducing labor turnover, can drive innovation andcohesion through having a more diverse workforce andmanagement team, and can improve productivity throughstronger teams and employee motivation. Moreover, provencompliance and quality employment can improve access toquality buyers. Thus, agribusiness companies who do notinvest in women are potentially missing out on importantbusiness gains, and policy-makers are missing a potentiallever to open up equal opportunities, and ratchet up laborstandards, to support inclusive growth for women workers inagriculture. The focus of this publication is women that aredirectly employed, paid labor, predominantly among largeremployers. While smallholder and outgrower farming has avital role to play in rural development, it is not the mainsubject here.
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