October 2026 Photo of the Month: Happy Harvests
Our monthly photo series highlights the beauty and emotion in the lives of our clients around the world. This October, celebrate harvests that women farmers reap from the skills, confidence, and connections they build with TechnoServe.
In honor of the International Year of the Woman Farmer, we bring you a selection of images from women farmers who have gained new ways to build a better life for themselves, their families, and their communities.
This October’s photo selection captures the first link in our food systems—the farmers who plant, grow, tend, and harvest the crops that end up on our tables. Look at the Ivorian mother balancing a heavy harvest of cocoa and a baby on her back, the pride on the Indian farmer who can negotiate a good price for her guar, and the delight on the faces of the Nicaraguan farmers who are confident their produce has a steady market.
Thanks to your enduring support, TechnoServe is able to design programs that help women and girls succeed.
PHOTO 1: Cocoa harvest, Côte d’Ivoire
Women carry heavy loads of ripe cocoa pods in Divo, Côte d’Ivoire. Upwards of 1.2 million smallholder farmers working on plots ranging from 1.5-5 hectares (3-12 acres) make Côte d’Ivoire the leading cocoa producer in the world. Women provide almost 70% of the labor but own only 25% of the land. TechnoServe supported women in cocoa-growing communities by helping them diversify their household incomes and build critical business skills through targeted initiatives like Project Awalé.
PHOTO 2: Guar harvest, India
Magan Kanwar Rau Singh inspects her guar seeds before selling them to the Farmer Producer Companies (FPC) in Motigarh village, Rajasthan, India. Through her collaboration with the FPC for collection and transportation, she increased the ability of female farmer groups to negotiate better prices. TechnoServe, together with Syensqo and its partners, launched the Sustainable Guar Initiative, which has improved lives and livelihoods for more than 12,500 farmers across 62 villages.
Photo 3: Tomato harvest, Nicaragua
Women farmers of Carreta Quebrada, a Nicaraguan vegetable cooperative, bring in fresh tomatoes from the field. TechnoServe’s Partnership for Food Industry Development program with Michigan State University helped the cooperative gain access to financing, connect with buyers, improve production and product handling, and adopt better technologies. As a result, the group became an important supplier of tomatoes, onions, and other produce to a national supermarket chain. The farmers invested their new incomes in home improvements, health care, and education for their families.
Read more about the International Year of the Women Farmer.
Photo of the Month
