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The hunger project for the economic empowerment of Africa´s rural women

16. říjen 1999

African women food farmers labor up to twice as long per week as their male counterparts, producing, processing, and transporting virtually all of Africa`s food; yet these primary producers own only 1% of the land. They receive less than 7% of farm extension services, and less than 10% of the
agricultural credit available for small farmers.

( African women, who so often are absent during the creation of policy that affects their lives, are the primary strategists for The Hunger Project`s new initiative. A team of innovative grassroots leaders composed of women from West, East, and Southern Africa are developing a program for the economic empowerment of African women farmers. According to Nigerian Chief Mrs. Bisi Ogunleye, regional coordinator of the initiative, "Economic empowerment leads to political empowerment. When you have money, you have the ability to negotiate good health, you can be more productive, you can invite yourself to the [policy] table."
The Hunger Project`s initiative will not only increase women`s access to credit, education, and vital agricultural inputs, but it will enable them to invest in basic technology which could reduce the drudgery of their work. Most fundamentally, the initiative will provide the opportunity to create lasting change in the social status and well-being of Africa`s 100 million rural women and their families.
At a recent strategy meeting of West African women activists in Accra, Ghana, Hunger Project President Joan Holmes described plans for the formal launch of the initiative, which will take place on October 9th at New York`s Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square. Says Holmes, the evening is designed to powerfully "pierce the veil of unconsciousness surrounding the African woman food farmerThe climax of the evening will be when Mme. Aisseta, a woman food farmer from Burkina Faso, stands up on the most prestigious international platform for Africa and receives the statue of the Africa Prize for Leadership." The statue will return with Mme. Aisseta to Burkina Faso, where it will be the catalyst for local celebrations and advocacy campaigns which will be replicated in other countries as the Prize travels throughout Africa.

The Hunger Project is a global strategic organization that is committed to the end of hunger. It takes action by galvanizing the skills, resources, and creativity of people in developing countries, enabling them to be primary actors who work for their own self-reliance. Today, in more than 1,500 villages across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, The Hunger Project applies a dynamic, people-centered methodology, Strategic Planning in Action, to empower people to achieve food self-sufficiency and overall well-being.
Since 1987, The Hunger Project has awarded the Africa Prize for Leadership, an initiative designed to call forth leadership committed to a new future for the African continent. Previous recipients have included President Nelson Mandela and Professor Wangari Maathai, Founder of the Green Belt movement of Kenya. In placing and international spotlight on individuals working for change, the Prize has redefined leadership on the African continent.