The 15th of October 2018 is a day dedicated to celebrate International day for Rural Womens. This year theme was Challenges and opportunities in climate resilient agriculture for gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls in Zimbabwe.
The Smallholder Irrigation Revitalization Programme held an experience sharing event in Harare to share success stories with Zimbabwean women in the area of entrepreneurship, food and nutrition security and climate change to commemorate International Rural Womens Day.
The workshop drew participants from academia, Donors, Civil Society Organisations, Government, Media, Private sector and Farmers. Represenatives from Ministry of Women, IFAD, Ministry of lands, water, FAO, WFP, young farmers, Zimbabwe National Chambers and rural women entrepreneurs shared their experiences. From the presentations it was noted that women played a pivotal role in economic development but had limited technical knowhow and lacked the means to confront bureaucracy. It was necessary to empower women and embrace the younger generation so that rural women can fully participate in the local and global economy. In addition, issues of livelihoods & food security are deeply embedded in culture, which dictates roles, distributes rights & privileges, & locates power to own, manage, access, & control resources within specific individuals therefore gender sensitization is key to ensuring cultural sensitivity.
Continued debate and initiatives on closing the “gender gap” is important and will generate significant gains for the agricultural sector, raising total agricultural output & reducing overall food & nutrition insecurity. Despite the challenges faced women should never give up
