none 10.19103/AS.2024.0148.06 Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing Limited Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing Limited 8180 181363556 4874923 2242117 20251003123055899 10.19103 2026-04-01T13:51:05Z 2025-08-26T10:44:13Z 0 20596936 Pennsylvania State University, USA Carolyn E. Sachs Paige Castellanos Oxfam America (OUS), USA here are an estimated 500 million smallholder farmers across the world, of which a considerable percentage of women. Despite their large numbers and important roles, women smallholders remain largely unsupported and their contribution to agriculture is often devalued because of their sex. Women and smallholder farming: Addressing global inequities in agriculture provides a comprehensive overview of the main obstacles and challenges women smallholders continue to face, such as restricted access to markets and education, as well as a lack of control over assets and property rights. The book also assesses the impact of sociocultural factors on women smallholder farmers in different regions around the world, including Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. In highlighting these issues, the book considers how key stakeholders across the agri-food supply chain can support, empower and sufficiently compensate women smallholder farmers for their contribution to agriculture. 09 23 2025 09 23 2025 9781801468053 Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing Limited 10.19103/AS.2024.0148 https://shop.bdspublishing.com/store/bds/detail/workgroup/3-190-138366 International Potato Center, Vietnam Nozomi Kawarazuka Nguyen Thi Van Anh Formerly Institute for Social Development Studies, Vietnam Vu Xuan Thai Formerly Institute for Social Development Studies, Vietnam In the highlands of Southeast Asia, agriculture is deeply embedded in sociocultural organizations in the society, where safety nets and reciprocal support are established through women’s unpaid labor contribution to farming. However, many research frameworks employed in agricultural research tend to focus on crops and their economic value. As a result, women’s contribution to and constraints on agriculture associated to sociocultural value is not fully explored, reinforcing gender inequality in knowledge production in agricultural scholarship. Drawing on feminist approaches to political economy, this chapter explores women’s unpaid labor contribution to agriculture through a case study on ethnic Thai young married couples in Northern Vietnam. The authors\' findings show that women’s unpaid labor contribution to agriculture is vital to sustain safety nets and receive reciprocal support from kin, compensating precarious off-farm economic activities performed by men. Ethnic minority women need to be positioned as key actors for agricultural development in Asia. 5 09 23 2025 09 23 2025 101 120 10.19103/AS.2024.0148.06 https://www.bdspublishing.com/webshop/chapters/crops/agri-food-systems/supporting-smallholders/socio-cultural-factors-affecting-women-smallholders-the-case-of-ethnic-minority-women-in-the-highlands-of-southeast-asia/ https://link.springer.com/10.19103/AS.2024.0148.06