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Nepal’s rising ranks of women farmers

As men migrate for work, Nepal’s women are increasingly taking up agriculture – but society, policies and support systems are slow to catch up

By Anita Zhang
An illustration of a Nepali woman harvesting rice. In the background, a steady line of men can be seen walking into the distance, symbolising migration to greener pastures.
As millions of young and able-bodied men from Nepal have migrated abroad for work – to the Gulf states, South Korea and beyond – millions of women have remained behind. Many have turned to farming, sustaining the country’s agricultural lifeline. However, they still find themselves at the periphery of decision-making. Illustration by Aishwarya Iyer
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IN A SMALL VILLAGE in Raksirang, in the mid-hills of central Nepal, the trails wind upward along a slight hill. There, women sat in the sun, sorting vegetables and sharing news. Apart from the sound of their voices, the cluster of roughly 50 houses around them was eerily quiet.

Bishnu Maya Praja said that the wider area, on paper home to around 25,000 people, has almost “emptied out”. While the exodus began with men, women have recently started to follow. Her own husband left for Dubai two years ago to drive buses and has not returned since, the 26-year-old said. Her sister spent four years in Cyprus as a care worker for the elderly. Praja attributes this mass departure – replicated across Nepal – to the country’s dismal domestic job market. For most people, there is simply no other choice. 

“Compared to 20 years ago, we now see women, who were primary workers in the family, now turning into primary farmers, a role that was previously held by men,” Rachana Upadhyaya, a researcher at the Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies and the University of Bristol, said. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s 2019 report indicates that more than 80 percent of women in Nepal work in agriculture. The number of female-headed households nearly doubled between 2012 and 2022.