Introduction to the Special Issue “Gender and Development in Rural Communities and Agriculture”

Abstract Gender inequality and women’s empowerment are on the agenda of many governments, businesses, and most major international development agencies and organizations today. Despite this emphasis, there is growing concern among many feminists that the “mainstreaming” of gender within existing institutions has undermined the transformative potential of these concepts and practices (Collins 2021; Cornwall and Rivas 2015; Farhall and Rickards 2021). Within this context, feminist scholarly and applied work remains a priority for those seeking to reduce gender inequality and ensure women’s empowerment. This special issue seeks to contribute to these efforts. The authors in this special issue illuminate key areas related to agriculture and rural communities, including: agricultural technologies, disasters and climate change, maternal mortality, microfinance, and rising rates of global hunger. They demonstrate that gender inequalities and women’s empowerment remain challenging because of the multifaceted nature and ways in which these inequalities and power imbalances are embedded in specific social relationships. At the same time, these authors provide important empirical evidence and theoretical framings that can aid future scholarly efforts to expand our understandings of how we can enhance the strategic capacity of women to build positive change in this area.