The United Nations has declared 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer. It’s a powerful recognition of something we’ve known for a long time: women are at the heart of global food production. Yet they still face disproportionate barriers to getting the tools, finance and support they need to thrive.
At Futurepump, we haven’t waited for a designated year to put women farmers front and centre. They’ve been central to our story since day one. But we think this moment is a great opportunity to pause, share some of the incredible women we’ve had the privilege of working with, and look share a bit more about our strategy moving forward.
Women hold up more than half the harvest
The statistics are stark. Women make up around 41% of the global agrifood workforce, playing a critical role in food production, processing and distribution. However, they consistently earn less, own less land, and have far less access to the technologies and finance that could multiply their efforts. Close the gender gap in farm productivity alone and you could reduce food insecurity for 45 million people worldwide.
But behind every statistic is a person. Here are just some of the stories from our customers.
Hakima, Kenya – where money really does grow on trees
Hakima Mohammed runs a tree seedling nursery in Vihiga County, Kenya. After nearly three decades working at the Kenya Forest Research Institute, she saw a business opportunity and decided to go for it – even after the sudden loss of her husband, who had been set to guide her. She started alone, with a 20,000-seedling nursery bed and determination. Today, she manages 250,000 seedlings across 30 varieties.
One of the biggest turning points was switching from a diesel pump (which was costing her around KSh 12,000 a month in fuel) to a Futurepump solar pump. The savings were immediate, and the irrigation consistency meant she could grow year-round, independent of rainfall.
Her seedlings now supply buyers across multiple counties. Her income has put her children through university. And she’s still growing.
Read Hakima’s full story on our blog
Ann, Kenya – fish, fruit and big plans
Ann runs Jade Aqua Farm in Muranga County – a busy, expanding operation that includes fish ponds, greenhouses and field plots growing everything from strawberries to pawpaw. When we visited, she was already brimming with plans for what she’d do next.
Before her Futurepump solar pump, Ann was spending over KSh 12,000 a month on diesel. With the solar pump, that dropped to loan repayments of KSh 5,000 – less than half – while giving her reliable water access to fields, greenhouses and tanks.
“I would recommend every farmer to have it!”
Meet Ann in her own words on our blog
Malawi – farming as a team sport
In Chintheche, northern Malawi, a collaboration between Practical Action, Modern Farming Technologies and African Mini Grids brought solar irrigation – including Futurepump pumps – to women farming groups in one of the country’s most challenging agricultural environments. Most men fish for a living, leaving women to manage the land with limited resources and very little infrastructure.
The project gave 18 women farmers access to greenhouse growing, solar drip irrigation, refrigerated storage and direct market connections to hotels, restaurants and retailers. A year in, those farmers had harvested over 43,000kg of tomatoes and seen average earnings increase by 38%, all whilst farming just ten hours a week around their other responsibilities. By 15 months, 135 women were involved, with 45 greenhouses up and running.
Read the Chintheche story on our blog
What we’re doing in 2026
This year, we’re making gender-intentional marketing a core part of how we operate. That means being deliberate about who we show using our pumps, how we tell their stories, and how we make sure women farmers see themselves in what we put out into the world. Because if the imagery, the language and the marketing all signal ‘this is for men’, we become part of the problem, even if the pump works brilliantly for everyone.
We’re also proud to say that the proportion of women in senior management positions at Futurepump is growing. It matters that the people making decisions about products designed to help women farmers include women themselves.
We won’t pretend we have everything figured out. But we’re asking the right questions, listening to our customers, and putting genuine effort into making sure that the women feeding the world have access to the tools that can make their work more productive, more profitable and less exhausting.
So on this year’s International Women’s Day, we’re stating our commitment. Here’s to the year of the woman farmer – and every year after it!