Legal Innovations for Women and Food Security in Contract Farming

Background

Contract farming is increasingly viewed as a promising alternative business model, particularly as the negative impacts of large-scale, land-based investments become more widely known. It allows farmers to retain control over their land while offering a predictable income and improved access to inputs.

However, these schemes often favour better-off male farmers and tend to negatively affect women. Research shows that women frequently perform most of the labour but are excluded from both decision making and the contracts themselves. In many cases, their subsistence farming activities are displaced by contracted crops.

About the Event

This session at the 2025 Global Land Forum in Bogotá, Colombia, will present innovative legislative and contractual solutions, including model legal drafting, that can be adopted and adapted to address the challenges posed by contract farming for women and local food security.

Participants will learn from the speakers and each other and share their own experiences, best practices, challenges, and lessons learned.

Speakers

• Nyaguthii Maina, Associate and International Law Advisor, Agriculture and Investment, IISD
• Teemu Viinikainen, International Legal Consultant, Development Law Service, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
• Dr. Priscila Pereira de Andrade, Legal Officer, UNIDROIT - International Institute for the Unification of Private Law
• James Mulbah Yarsiah, Executive Director, Facilitator, National Land Coalition Liberia