Regional Capacity Building Workshop and Policy Conference on Innovation for Women Entrepreneurs in Agri-Food
28–29 October 2026, Tunis, Tunisia – The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), in partnership with CIHEAM, FAO and PRIMA and with the financial support of the Spanish agency for cooperation (AECID), will organize the Regional Capacity Building Workshop and Policy Conference on Innovation for Women Entrepreneurs in Agri-Food on 28–29 October 2026 in Tunis, Tunisia.
Women play a critical role throughout agri-food value chains as entrepreneurs, producers, innovators and leaders. However, they continue to face barriers in accessing finance, technology, markets, innovation ecosystems and policy support. Addressing these challenges is essential to fostering more inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems.
The event will bring together policymakers, representatives of national institutions, international organizations, financial institutions, private-sector actors, civil society organizations and women entrepreneurs from across the region. The Policy Conference will serve as the official validation and launch of the UfM Regional Agenda on Innovation for Women Entrepreneurs in Agro-Food (2026–2030), developed through a multi-stakeholder regional process led by the UfM Regional Task Force.
In parallel, the Regional Capacity Building Workshop will train approximately 60 government officials and practitioners from the Masar Al’an region — Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia — strengthening their capacities to design and implement policies and programmes that support women entrepreneurs in agri-food value chains.
Discussions will focus on regional priorities identified through the Task Force’s diagnostic mapping and consultation process, including access to finance, innovation and digitalization, entrepreneurship support ecosystems, gender-responsive policies, sustainable agri-food systems, and mechanisms for regional cooperation. The event will also contribute to the celebration of the 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer, launched by FAO, by promoting collective action and policy solutions that advance women’s leadership and economic participation in the agri-food sector.
