An Australian research group has been empowering women to a prosperous future through education and training all over the planet.

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research has taken stock of its most valuable efforts over the last few months, in a week that features International Day of Rural Women (15 October), World Food Day (16 October) and International Day of Eradication of Poverty (17 October).

A research program conducted in Papua New Guinea worked to give women better access to agricultural resources and training to help out on their farms.

“Many women in PNG are growing vegetables and sweet potato, but they are marginalized through low literacy and access to markets,” says Dr Caroline Lemerle from the ACIAR.

To combat this, the group set out to teach female smallholders what was termed “liklik bisnis thinking” in Pidgin; techniques and skills move from just getting by to operating profitable businesses.

The project in Papua New Guinea is still underway, but similar work has previously allowed participants to increase farm productivity between 20 and 30 per cent.

Futher positive results have come from another ACIAR initiative empowering marginalised groups to self-sufficiency.

A project in Afghanistan saw over 500 women from 160 womens' groups trained in nursery techniques for pistachios.

They produced some 80,000 seedlings and made progress rehabilitating the Mazar catchment. The catchment will provide shade for annual crops, and become a potential source of income for the future.

ACIAR also helped create a three-fold increase for some female farmers growing indigenous vegetables in Vietnam’s North West Highlands.

The project approached all parts of the industry, from basic production through to marketing of the harvested products. Along the way it helped women improve their growing techniques, boosted returns, researched and created positive change in farming practice.

All the efforts have been made possible through collaboration with various Australian universities and range of groups in the projects’ host countries.

The ACIAR’s role grows more valuable by the season, as it seeks to continue bringing life-saving and finance-improving information to groups who have previously been left behind.

Further information on ACIAR's projects and their content is available here.