Gendered Food Security, Seed Sovereignty, and Agroecological Feminism in Rural Farming Systems

African Journal of Gender and Women Studies | Vol. 11, No. 9, September 2026 | pp. 223–236

DOI: 10.46882/2026/AJGWS/001311

Article Type: Research Article

Title: Gendered Food Security, Seed Sovereignty, and Agroecological Feminism in Rural Farming Systems

Names of Author: Beatrice Namukasa¹, Diego Alvarez², & Marie-Claire Tremblay³

Author's Affiliation: ¹School of Women and Gender Studies, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; ²Department of Rural Sociology, National University of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia; ³Department of Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

Abstract:
Corporate agribusiness expansion and intellectual property regimes governing commercial hybrid seeds increasingly threaten smallholder farming systems and biodiversity across the Global South. Because rural women play central roles in selecting, saving, and exchanging indigenous seeds to ensure household dietary diversity, the privatization of seed systems directly undermines women’s agricultural autonomy and community food security. This paper explores how rural women farmers organize community seed banks and practice agroecological farming in central Uganda and southern Colombia. Anchored in agroecological feminism and food sovereignty frameworks, the study synthesizes participatory farm walks, seed-diversity inventories, and interviews with 55 female peasant farmers. The findings demonstrate that women-led seed networks preserve climate-resilient indigenous crops, reduce dependence on costly chemical inputs, and assert peasant women’s political agency against corporate agricultural monopolies.

Keywords: Seed sovereignty, agroecological feminism, food security, indigenous seeds, smallholder farmers, biodiversity, Uganda, Colombia

Manuscript Timeline: Received: July 22, 2026; Revised: August 24, 2026; Accepted: August 28, 2026; Published: September 15, 2026.

Citation: Namukasa, B., Alvarez, D., & Tremblay, M.-C. (2026). Gendered Food Security, Seed Sovereignty, and Agroecological Feminism in Rural Farming Systems. African Journal of Gender and Women Studies, 11(9), 223–236. DOI: 10.46882/2026/AJGWS/001311

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