Women make up 35.7% of the sector, a proportion that has remained virtually unchanged since 2022, as Ibiza & Formentera Preservation calls for greater equality in access to land, resources and training.
Only one in three organic farming operators in Ibiza was a woman in 2025. Of the 171 professionals registered in the sector, 61 were women and 110 were men, meaning women accounted for 35.7% of the total, according to the latest figures analysed by the Sustainability Observatory of Ibiza & Formentera Preservation.
The organisation released the figures to mark the International Day of Rural Women, warning that the proportion of women in the sector has remained virtually unchanged since 2022, the first year for which gender-disaggregated data are available.
The figures, published in the 2025 Ibiza Sustainability Report and funded by the Consell d’Eivissa, cover both organic agricultural producers and professionals involved in the processing or preparation of organic products.
“The growth of organic farming must go hand in hand with equality policies that make it easier for women to participate in the agricultural sector,” says Elisa Langley, coordinator of the Sustainability Observatory.
Langley stresses that the challenge is not simply to encourage more women to enter the sector, but to ensure they have “the same opportunities to access land, resources and training, launch their own projects and take part in decision-making”.
The often-overlooked contribution of rural women
Ibiza & Formentera Preservation points out that women’s contribution to rural life across Ibiza and Formentera has historically been far greater than many statistics suggest.
Jordi Salewski, coordinator of Ibiza & Formentera Producen, highlights the essential role women have played in sustaining agriculture and rural communities on Ibiza over generations, despite much of their work remaining unrecognised.
Recognising that contribution also means addressing long-standing inequalities in access to land ownership and resources, Salewski argues.
“Women continue to play a leading role in the countryside of Ibiza and Formentera. Many work on and manage small farms and agricultural and livestock businesses,” he says.
Film screenings bring rural women’s stories to Ibiza and Formentera
Against this backdrop, Ibiza & Formentera Preservation is taking part for the first time in the National Rural Women’s Film Festival through its Ibiza & Formentera Producen programme. The festival is organised by Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
The initiative will reach the Pitiusas — the island group comprising Ibiza and Formentera — for the first time, with two free film screenings on 12 and 13 November.
The first screening will take place on Thursday, 12 November, at 7 pm at the Sala de Cultura in Sant Francesc Xavier, Formentera. The programme features La terra negra, directed by Alberto Morais and starring Laia Marull and Sergi López.
The following day, Friday, 13 November, at 8 pm, the Centre de Cultura Can Jeroni in Sant Josep, Ibiza, will host a screening of Bodegón con fantasmas, a comedy directed by Enrique Buleo.
The session will include an introduction and a post-screening discussion led by Ibiza-born producer and director Pablo Alcántara.
The ninth edition of the National Rural Women’s Film Festival will run from 15 October to 15 November, reaching 530 locations across Spain with 1,097 screenings and 461 activities.
