By ANN ZULU
MANY widows in Zambia, especially in rural areas, have
taken up farming as a way of supporting their children’s education.
Chaka Mbewe, a 50-year-old woman from Chongwe district,
is one such person.
She lost her husband years back and had to depend on
farming to cater for the four children the husband left behind.
She has a four and a half acres of land on which she
grows maize and groundnuts. She also rears a few goats and pigs.
Ms Mbewe said farming was the only thing she could do
to support her children’s education, but several challenges such as lack of
fertilizer, traction services and others made it difficult for her to succeed.
Generally, rural communities lack lots of
opportunities including income generating activities for women to take
advantage of.
The effect of this is the constant migration of young
females from rural to urban areas to engage in illicit activities.
Undoubtedly, women comprise the largest percentage of
the workforce in the agricultural sector, yet they produce less than their male
counterparts.
That is not because women are less able than men or
because they are less resourceful. Certainly, it is also not because they are
less motivated than their male counterparts.
According to gender activist Gladys Mutukwa, it is
because women do not benefit equally from farm inputs such as fertilizer, insecticides,
machinery and information on modern farming practices.
This gap is making it impossible for Zambian women to
become the thriving farmers they need to be in order to pull themselves out of
poverty and give their children a better life.
Ms Mutukwa said if women countrywide had the same
access to productive resources as men, they could boost agricultural production
and help reduce levels of hunger.
“In rural areas the majority of women are engaged in
agriculture as their main economic activity and many of these women are the
breadwinners of their families. It is out of their sweat that children are fed,
clothed and school fees paid,” Ms Mutukwa said.
Culturally in Zambia, women do not own land even
though they form the largest percentage of the agriculture workforce.
Lack of access to land is making it difficult for
women to engage in commercial agriculture. Also because of lack of resources,
they do not have access to hired labour and tractor services.
They struggle on their small farms alone, hence their
engagement in subsistence farming.
Women also tend to face greater challenges when it
comes to securing credit. They are generally less experienced with borrowing
from an institution, and without assistance and support, they find it difficult
to access the much needed finance.
Most agricultural extension officers’ focus is always
on owners of large-scale commercial farms while providing limited research and farming
techniques to smallholders, the majority of whom are women.
Most advanced technology such as tractors,
cultivators, planters and other farming equipment often benefited male farmers
to the detriment of women.
Lack of market research and information limit women farmers
to market access as they are confined to local markets where prices are
generally low and exploitative.
Lands Minister Jean Kapata says Government was aware
of the fact that majority of women in the country, especially in rural areas,
did not have access to land.
She however said this might soon be a thing of the
past as Government was working towards giving priority of land acquisition to
women.
She said the Patriotic Front (PF) government under
President Edgar Lungu’s administration was committed to its promise of ensuring
that 40 percent of women had access to land.
“Access to land
still remains a challenge to women, but that will no longer continue because
the PF government under the leadership of President Lungu is determined to
empower women through land and ensure that women have access to land just like the
men.
“We are more interested in empowerment and attainment
of gender equality as a prerequisite for sustainable social and economic
development of the country.
“In Zambia only about 20 percent women have secure access
to land, but as Government we will make sure that at least 40 percent of land
in the country goes to women,” Ms. Kapata said.
She observed that having secure access to land would
help to empower women, both individually and collectively.
Ms. Kapata stressed that women were also entitled to
land, saying that Government would ensure that women’s rights such as land were
protected and promoted.
She said affirmative programmes to support women’s
access to land administration services were underway.
Ms. Kapapta said land was a form of security and
collateral for women, building women’s resilience and food security, as well as
raising their social status and dignity.
“Access to land means that women will have access to
financial assets, including credit and savings, and also reduce the poverty
levels in Zambia, because poverty has a feminine face. So we will ensure that
women’s rights on land are protected and promoted,” she said.
Meanwhile, Government through the ministries of
Community Development and Gender, in collaboration with the World Bank, has
also embarked on the Women Empowerment and Livelihood Project.
About 75,000 women from 51 districts countrywide would
be empowered and trained in financial literacy and life skills, which includes
farming.
Minister of Community Development Emerine Kabanshi said
the main objective of the project was to increase access to improved livelihood
for women in extreme poor households in selected districts.
“The project became effective in April 2016 after the
signing of the agreement between Government and the World Bank. The total
financing amount is US$65 million over a period of five years.
“The selected women will be supported with training in
life and business skills, including savings and productivity grants that will
be provided to assist them finance their small livelihood activities,” she
said.
Empowering and investing in women farmers,
specifically in rural areas, will significantly increase agricultural
productivity while reducing poverty in Zambia
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