They say food is love made visible. But for millions of women across the world especially in Africa, food is far more than nourishment; it is identity, resilience, and quiet revolution.
Every grain planted, every pot stirred, every child fed carries the fingerprint of a woman’s endurance. She is the unseen architect of our collective survival, the hands that make harvests possible, the voice that reminds families to share, the heart that keeps communities whole.
From the woman who tills the soil in Kano to the market vendor in Lagos, to the mother who stretches one meal to feed five, her story is one of faith, strength, and sacrifice.
The Hands that Feed the World
When we talk about food, we talk about women regardless of whether we acknowledge it or not. Women make up almost half of the agricultural workforce in developing countries, yet they often have the least access to land, finance, and technology. They are the first to rise and the last to rest. They are the ones who turn scarcity into sustenance, who make a miracle out of a single grain of hope.
World Food Day celebrated every October 16, is more than a date on the calendar. It’s a reminder that feeding the world requires everyone’s hands, hearts, and harmony.
This year’s theme, “Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future,” calls for unity; for collaboration between governments, communities, and individuals to build fair, sustainable food systems.
But for us at Sheroes Rising, it is also a call to walk hand in hand with the women who make nourishment possible.
The woman farmer in Katsina who braves the sun to water her fields.
The fisherwoman in the Niger Delta who teaches her daughters the tides.
The food vendor in Abuja who feeds hundreds from her small stall.
The grandmother in Osogbo who keeps ancestral recipes alive.
These women are not just feeding bodies they’re feeding hope, one meal, one hand, one act of courage at a time.
Hand in Hand: Women at the Center of Change
When women thrive, communities flourish. When they have access to resources, technology, and fair opportunities, the entire food chain becomes stronger and more resilient.
Working hand in hand means partnership not pity. It means listening to women farmers, funding women-led agribusinesses, and amplifying their voices in decision-making spaces.
It means ensuring that no woman is left behind, from the village farms to the policy tables.
Across Africa, women are already reimagining the future of food.
She’s a scientist developing climate-smart crops.
She’s an entrepreneur turning waste into organic fertilizer.
She’s an advocate fighting for fair land rights.
She’s a chef using local ingredients to tell global stories.
They’re showing the world that food is not just domestic labor — it’s leadership, legacy, and liberation.
Beyond the Kitchen: The Sheroes Revolution
For too long, women’s relationship with food was confined to kitchens and cooking pots; sacred spaces, yes, but not the full story. Today, women are leading in labs, markets, farms, and parliaments. They are turning what was once invisible labor into visible leadership.
They remind the world that food is both science and soul; both economy and empathy.
It is the heartbeat of every culture and the bridge between survival and dignity.
A Shared Table, A Shared Future
The spirit of this year’s World Food Day lies in connection between hands, between hearts, and between generations.
Because food doesn’t just fill stomachs; it builds bridges.
Every shared meal is a reminder that we are one community bound by hunger and hope alike.
When a woman farmer is empowered, she passes that empowerment on to her children, her neighbors, her nation.
When she is supported, entire ecosystems bloom.
When she is heard, the world listens differently.
To build a hunger-free world, we must build a woman-empowered world.
Investing in women farmers, innovators, and entrepreneurs is not charity; it’s strategy.
Research shows that giving women equal access to resources could lift millions out of hunger and poverty, ensuring a future where food is not a privilege, but a right.
Closing Reflection
Today, as we celebrate World Food Day 2025, let’s remember that every meal we share is a story, one likely written by a woman.
She may not sign her name on the harvest, but her fingerprints are on every grain. Her voice echoes in every pot, and her legacy lives in every recipe passed down through time.
She is the Shero of sustenance — the one who feeds nations with her strength and waters the earth with her hope.
So here’s to HER:
The woman whose hands grow abundance.
The one who turns hunger into healing.
The one who reminds us that food is not just survival it’s love, power, and legacy.
Happy 2025 World Food Day.
Here’s to walking hand in hand with the women who feed the world. One meal, one dream, one future at a time.
Awwal Sheriff
Abuja, Nigeria
