Without women, rural communities have no future. Leadership that transformed 2024 and could ignite 2025
- Editorial
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
If 2024 taught us anything, it is that empowering women in rural communities is not charity: it is smart public policy and tangible economic development. In Mexico, the demographic and productive weight of rural women is undeniable. INMUJERES reported that only 35.6% of rural women aged 15 and older participate in the economy, 14 points below the urban average—an inequality that limits municipal revenues, innovation, and family well-being. At the same time, total female economic participation rose to 46 out of every 100 women in the second quarter of 2024, an improvement over 2023, but still far from parity.
Behind this gap lie three bottlenecks:
First, education: in rural localities, only 14.5% of young people aged 17 to 30 attend upper secondary school, shrinking the pool of potential leaders for cooperatives, ejidos, or value-added microenterprises.
Second, connectivity: in localities with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants, only 19.2% of households headed by women have a computer, translating into weaker access to markets, digital payments, and training.
Third, informality: Mexico closed 2024–2025 with rates above 54%, which particularly affected women in agriculture, commerce, and caregiving, limiting their access to social security and credit.
The contrast with the United States offers a roadmap. The 2022 Agricultural Census (published in 2024) confirmed 1.2 million female producers: 36% of decision-makers in agriculture, and 58% of farms have at least one woman in a leadership role. This is formal leadership that translates into sales and access to programs. Added to this are USDA mentoring networks for women in agriculture and the expansion of youth leadership scholarships and forums that connect producers with universities and markets.
Technology is the multiplier
In 2024–2025, USDA and NTIA accelerated (and later revised) rural broadband investment: the BEAD program advanced with state proposal approvals, but its 2025 redesign opened the door to delays and a “technology-neutral” turn that several states fear could dilute standards and timelines. For rural women entrepreneurs—who sell via WhatsApp, manage payments, and train online—every quarter lost in connectivity is lost income. Mexico should take note: without reliable internet, leadership programs lose traction even when demand exists.
There are, however, strong signals of binational progress. In July 2025, Pro Mujer and UNDP Mexico announced an alliance to scale financial inclusion, healthcare, and training for girls and women—critical inputs for local economic leadership—while the XVI Regional Conference on Women (UN) in Mexico City placed the issue at the hemispheric level with a focus on substantive equality and territorial development. At the technical level, FAO launched in 2024 its “field schools” program for women farmers in the region, a proven model that accelerates technology adoption, leadership, and economic autonomy from the grassroots.
What worked in 2024? Where female leadership was formalized, training was practical, and connectivity was available, results followed. In the U.S., greater female participation as “decision-makers” amplified the impact of credit, insurance, and extension programs. In Mexico, the increase in total female participation and the expansion of gender-focused cooperatives demonstrate that, with the right tools, the curve can shift quickly. INEGI data on digital gaps in small towns suggest that closing connectivity and digital literacy gaps for female heads of household could yield disproportionate returns in productivity and local commerce.
2025 demands going beyond “pilot programs” and into municipal design.
First, institutionalizing female representation quotas in rural development councils and committees for water, roads, and markets, with earmarked budgets for training and monitoring.
Second, aligning rural connectivity with gender objectives: each kilometer of fiber, radio base, or community Wi-Fi point should be measured by how many women-led microbusinesses sell more, how many cooperatives open new markets, and how many young women complete technical certifications.
Third, development banking and local funds: credit lines with partial guarantees and public procurement criteria that reward women-led cooperatives.
Fourth, subnational diplomacy: partnerships between counties and municipalities (Arizona–Sonora, New Mexico–Chihuahua, Texas–Tamaulipas) to transfer USDA/Extension methodologies to ejidos and Mexican associations, with universities on both sides as anchors.
The risk lies in losing momentum.
High informality in Mexico and regulatory shifts in U.S. rural broadband could stall digital adoption and women’s rise to leadership positions. But the potential is clear: if Mexico can close the rural participation gap of 35.6% toward the urban average, and if the U.S. sustains its 36% female agricultural leadership with strong technical and digital support, 2025 could be the year when rural women’s leadership stops being a “pilot project” and becomes binational state policy.
Written by: Editorial
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