A New Beginning for Children

For many, 2026 may feel like a fresh start. Yet for millions of hungry children and families, the same challenges persist – malnutrition, dropping out of school, and vulnerability to various threats. Today, more than 673 million people around the world are facing hunger, while over 2.6 billion cannot afford healthy meals. This leaves millions of children without the nutrients they need to grow, learn, and thrive. Malnutrition disproportionately affects women and girls, who make up 60% of the world’s chronically malnourished population. More than 1 billion adolescent girls and women suffer from various forms of malnutrition, and they are also being hit harder than men and boys in times of climate crisis.

Women are both the primary victims and the key agents of change in the fight against hunger. The United Nations declared 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF 2026). Women farmers are vital to the agricultural and food system, engaging in food production, food processing, trade to support their families and contribute to both community and socio-economic development. They also carry the responsibility of caring for their children’s diet and health. Therefore, narrowing the gender gap among female farmers in access to land, capital, technology, education, and decision-making power can improve the well-being of women, children, and their families, increase food productivity, enhance resilience to climate change, and contribute to achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals. This creates a truly new beginning for children in the new year!

Challenges Faced by Female Farmers

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations defines women farmers as all women working in agrifood systems in different capacities across all segments of value chains. This includes farmers, producers, peasants, family and smallholder farmers, seasonal labourers, fishermen, fish workers, beekeepers, pastoralists, foresters, processors, traders, traditional knowledge holders, women in agricultural sciences, formal and informal workers, and rural entrepreneurs. The definition embraces women in all their diversity, including young and older women, Indigenous women and women in local communities, women with disabilities, refugee and displaced women, and many others. It acknowledges women in both formal and informal work, recognising their contributions regardless of land ownership or employment status.

The Status of Women in Agrifood Systems and The Unjust Climate underscore the scale of gender inequality and the disproportionate climate risks faced by women. Together, the reports highlight the structural barriers limiting women’s productivity, income, access to resources, and resilience. Key findings include:

• Women farmers typically work on smaller plots of land than men. Even when they manage farms of the same size, the gender gap in land productivity is 24%.
• Each day of extreme high temperatures reduces the total value of crops produced by women farmers by 3% relative to men.
• Reducing gender disparities in employment, education, and income could eliminate 52% of the food insecurity gap which is consistently higher among women.
• Empowering rural women through targeted development interventions could raise incomes for 58 million more people and boost resilience for 235 million.

The Unjust Climate, presents a comprehensive analysis of the impacts of climate change on rural populations, with a particular focus on vulnerable groups such as women, youth, and individuals living in poverty. Drawing on data from 24 countries across five world regions, the report integrates socioeconomic indicators with georeferenced climate data, providing insights into how climate stressors affect incomes, labour allocations, and adaptive strategies. It finds for example that a 1° C increase in long-term average temperatures is associated with a 34% reduction in the total incomes of female-headed households, relative to those of male-headed households.

As producers, rural women face greater constraints than their male counterparts in accessing essential productive resources and services, technologies, markets, education, information and financial assets. Focusing on women and girls does not mean leaving men and boys behind, gender equality does not mean that men and women will become the same either, but rather that their rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they were born male or female. Empowering and enabling men and women to participate equally and more effectively in agriculture also translates into improved nutrition, health and education outcomes for their children. It will also bring both immediate and long-term economic and social benefits for families, communities and nations at large.

Equality as a Path to Ending Hunger

Malnutrition harms women’s health and development, as well as their children’s, creating a cycle of poverty and poor health. This inequality costs the global economy over $1.6 trillion each year in lost potential.

Women’s and girls’ nutrition is impacted by gender norms, roles, and biological differences that influence diets, nutritional needs, and susceptibility to malnutrition. Gender inequality can worsen food insecurity, as women and girls face greater barriers due to limited access to resources and cultural norms, prioritising men's and boys' nutritional needs. In many cultures, women and girls are responsible for food preparation and household nutrition, but all too often, they eat last and least. Therefore, solving the nutritional problems of women and girls is crucial for changing social norms that hinder gender equality.

World Vision is committed to ensuring that every child, boy or girl, has the chance to live a fulfilling life and grow up healthy. To achieve this, we partner with families, community members, religious leaders, and stakeholders to improve gender norms that harm girls and to help female farmers gain more equal opportunities in the agricultural system. Our key priorities include:

Male Engagement

• Men’s active involvement in nutrition and health efforts targeting women and children is vital. Including men in efforts to increase gender equality is essential for sustaining progress.

Women’s Leadership

• Ensure women’s participation in community and household decision-making processes; empower women to advocate for their communities.
• Scale up opportunities for adolescent girls in leadership and nutrition programming; leverage the potential of adolescents as change agents and their strong desire for ownership and responsibility.
• Formalise community-driven accountability and monitoring systems with women’s leadership and participation to improve service delivery quality.

Economic Inclusion for Females

• Expand savings and loan groups to include more women and introduce digital financial literacy training to enhance financial management skills, access to digital financial services and markets, resilience to crises, and women’s economic independence.
• Build sustainable partnerships to improve women’s access to bank accounts, savings, and small loans. Develop different modalities and saving strategies for women in urban and rural settings.

Gender Equality in Food System

• Ensure women have equal access to agricultural resources including seeds, technology, and storage, as well as training – such as backyard gardens, cooking demonstrations, and climate-smart methods – to improve household dietary diversity and address market access barriers.
• Increase women's role in the value chain as producers of nutrient-dense local foods as well as consumers and decision-makers on household diets.
• Scale up climate-smart agricultural programmes to support women’s resilience in environmental crises.

WASH System

• Improve access to water, sanitation, and hygiene services, including for menstruation, to reduce women’s and girls’ vulnerability.
• Increase women’s leadership in water management infrastructure and training to increase safe water access and climate-smart resource management.

Nutrition and Education

• Provide nutrition, food, and health services in schools to keep girls in school longer.
• Continuous education on equitable food distribution, exclusive breastfeeding, and the nutritional needs of women and girls is essential at the household level – especially during pregnancy.

Hope in the Fight Against Hunger and Poverty

Despite World Vision's ongoing efforts to amplify the voices of hungry children and inspire public support through love and action, the food and climate crises have continued to intensify in recent years. Coupled with a significant reduction in international aid, malnutrition among vulnerable children is expected to worsen. At this critical juncture where child mortality is at stake, World Vision has joined the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty (GAAHP), a decisive step towards driving global action to end child hunger and poverty. Through the Alliance, we bring our child-focused expertise and community insights to shape policies and programmes that directly address child hunger and poverty.

The GAAHP is a country-led initiative launched during the 2024 G20 Summit in Brazil to unite governments, international organisations, development banks, civil society, and private partners, with the goal of supporting efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) through better coordination, investment, and impact. The Alliance provides a neutral space for partners to align priorities and translate political will into measurable progress. Starting with 148 founding members, it has now grown to more than 200, reflecting strong confidence in this new model of collective action and measurable impact.

For World Vision, engagement in the GAAHP is a strategic lever to accelerate global action on child hunger and poverty. The Alliance offers a pathway to scale proven, child-centred solutions while ensuring that children’s lived realities inform national and global decision-making. By combining high-level goals with community-driven implementation, World Vision contributes to more durable and equitable outcomes for children facing hunger and malnutrition.

We firmly believe that now is a critical time to eliminate child hunger, and the commitments and actions made this year by countries around the world and by every individual will bring a turning point in the lives of millions of children, a new world without poverty and hunger, a new beginning.

Ethiopia

Turning Hunger into Hope
A Brighter Future for Women Farmer

For decades, families in Ethiopia's West Hararghe Zone relied on khat farming as their primary source of income. Khat, a stimulant plant, consumed time and resources yet offered limited returns.

42-year-old Kedija is a mother of five. She worked tirelessly on her khat farm, leaving early in the morning and returning late at night. Despite her hard work, the income she earned could not meet her family’s needs. School supplies and uniforms for her children were unaffordable, often forcing them to drop out and work on neighboring farms for extra income. Food insecurity plagued her household, and there were days her children went to bed hungry.

The community’s dependence on khat created a cycle of poverty and ill-health, leaving little room for growth or stability. This was the reality until World Vision's RESILIENT-WE project intervened. Recognising the need for behavioral and agricultural transformation, the project introduced Natural Resource Management (NRM) practices and supported behavioral change initiatives. Kedija was selected to join the Community Environmental Management Committee (CEMC), receiving training on sustainable farming and 20 fruit seedlings — 10 Red Lady papayas and 10 avocados. The training sparked a realisation for Kedija: the time and effort she dedicated to khat farming could be better utilised to cultivate nutritious and profitable crops. With determination, she removed the khat plants from her yard and replaced them with papayas, avocados and bananas.

The transformation was swift and remarkable. Kedija’s papaya trees flourished, producing up to 230 fruits per tree. Selling each papaya for 100 birr, she not only secured a steady income but also provided nutritious fruit for her family. With her earnings, Kedija opened a bank account, saved for future investments, and ensured her children had the school supplies they needed.

“I can’t express my happiness,” Kedija shared. “My family now eats enough food and fruit. I no longer need to borrow from neighbours, and my children are back in school. I dream of becoming a big investor in this community and helping others follow in my steps. Thank you, World Vision, for this life-changing gift.”

Kedija’s success rippled through her community. She planted over 100 seedlings in clusters and shared 190 additional seedlings with 19 other women, inspiring them to transition from khat farming to fruit cultivation. Her efforts earned her the title of a model farmer, and her home became a learning hub for neighbours eager to replicate her success.

Her husband, once reliant on traditional farming methods, also witnessed the transformation. “We couldn’t feed our family before. But after my wife embraced these improved practices, our lives have changed completely,” he said.

Kedija’s story is a testament to the transformative power of agricultural innovation. Her journey from khat farming to fruit cultivation is a powerful reminder that with the right tools, training, and determination, ending hunger is possible!