Bridging the Gender Gap in the Agricultural Sector: Evidence from European Union Countries

Abstract

In European Union countries most farms are operated by smallholders in extensive agriculture and approximately 30% of agricultural farms are operated by woman. Despite the growing importance of the role of women in the agricultural sector, a more complete picture of the gender gap and the differences between female and male-operated farms is still lacking. The principal aim of this paper is to fill this gap by highlighting the differences between female and male-operated farms. The data used comes from the World Bank Open Data repository and Eurostat. The methodology consists of descriptive statistical analysis, principal component analysis, and multivariate regression models. The analysis is used to investigate how a set of indicators affects the gender gap in the agricultural sector. The research questions test how the socio-economic determinants and traditional agricultural land use influence the historical gender division of labour and the evolution and persistence of farm differences. The results from almost all 27 EU countries suggest that women, the same as men, can be considered "productive resources" and play an important role in the agriculture sector in areas such as crop and livestock production. However, their activities are less remunerative.