Women farmers deserve support

MASEMBE TAMBWE

Minister of Health, Community, Development, Gender and Children, Ms Ummy Mwalimu

THE government has expressed its desire to scale up a project by Oxfam at national level that aims at transforming the lives of rural women farmers.

Speaking at an event this week hosted by Oxfam and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elders and Children, Ms Ummy Mwalimu said that the project dubbed Female Food Hero had caught the eye of the government and needs replication.

“Small scale food producers, the majority being women, provide over 70 per cent of the food we eat while less than 10 per cent of women in the country own land. When we talk about agriculture revolution, what we actually mean is investing in rural women farmers and this project highlights that,” she said.

Ms Mwalimu admitted that there were still many challenges facing the agriculture sector particularly women farmers and whilst the government was addressing them, much still needs to be done.

Speaking on the challenge on financial inclusion and access to credit, she said that the number of women in the country with bank accounts was low but this can be overturned by mobile phone as a tool to bridge this gap.

The co-chair of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ms Melinda Gates said that the best way to end poverty and hunger is to make agriculture more productive, especially for women farmers.

“Many farmers don’t have access to the things they need to thrive: good seeds and fertilisers, information about best farming practices and links to markets where they can sell a surplus,” she said.

Oxfam Country Director, Ms Jane Foster reiterated the importance of investing in women small scale food producers as a path to eradicating poverty. Ms Foster said that we all have the responsibility to ensure that human rights and sustainable livelihoods are enjoyed by all.

The Female Food Heroes competition Oxfam developed as part of its GROW campaign focuses on the role of food in climate change, support for small scale farming and to address women’s land rights issues.

The ultimate goal of the programme is to contribute to wider recognition of small scale women food producers through awarding, acknowledging and celebrating their efforts in agriculture