The agricultural sector has, to date, been plagued by low levels of investment. Yet agriculture, and agri-enterprises specifically, matter massively for gender inclusion and equality. And despite advances in closing the gender finance gap in agriculture in emerging markets over the last decade, including on measurement and innovative financing mechanisms, there continues to be a large gap.

And so we began this brief by asking how investors can level the playing field for women in agricultural livelihoods. To do so, today investors have multiple entry points to apply a gender lens across their investment process to drive more equitable and inclusive agricultural value chains. Regardless of an investor’s starting point, resources, team capacity, and organizational motivation, there are many actions that any investor can take today.