Women farmers are vital if hunger is to be eliminated says Rose Mubita, Zambian farmer and activist. Barry Hugill reports.

Rosemary Mubita, 47, a farmer from Zambia is making her first visit to the UK. On a wet, grey morning she politely enquires if the sun ever shines in London before describing what it means to a farmer in her country. “I get up early and walk for 45 minutes to get to my land. I have 10 hectares but can only manage to work four of them. After a few hours I’m too tired to do any more, I am worn out.”

In most poor countries women produce between 60% and 80% of food, yet policy makers in both developed and developing countries tend to ignore them in favour of more ‘productive’, male, farmers. The consequences are dire – back-breaking labour because the women have almost no tools, limited access to seeds and fertiliser and are at the mercy of the often harsh climatic conditions. Thousands of people go for days without food, malnutrition is rife, premature death taken for granted.

Rose farms 580km from the capital city of Zambia, Lusaka. The region has 12,000 farmers and last year only 369 received any government support. To add to their plight HIV and AIDS are taking their toll and many women are responsible for large extended families as so many men die young. Rose says that a neighbour “has been left looking after a family of 21”. 

She is in the UK to promote a report, Women Marginal Farmers Speak Out, from Concern Worldwide, based on the experiences of female farmers in Zambia’s Western Province. Concern has been working in the area since 2002, the year of a terrible drought. Rose is the chairperson for the Mongu District Farmers Association which has a membership of 15 men and just three women.

Its founding aim was to aid local farmers improve their methods to try and provide more guaranteed crops. It also involved itself in HIV and AIDS education and, unusually, lobbied for equal opportunities between men and women. In 2003 it went into partnership with Concern Worldwide which helped with resources and encouraged women to take on leadership roles.

Rose remembers her first months as a member: “I spoke to other women and we all felt left out. Even use of the term ‘chairman’ put women off. I was very nervous about speaking in front of men who thought that we were not intelligent enough to take on leadership roles. I had to change my own mind about what I could do.”

Six years later the association now has 1,731 male and a staggering 1,870 female members. She still farms but increasingly lobbies her own government, and now that of the UK, to understand how vital female farmers are. “Farming is the main way for households to get food in Western Province. My association works with poor farmers, but aren’t able to reach the poorest women due to lack of finance. Poor women farmers don’t get any support. They need help with seeds, fertiliser, credit. They are the ones who are growing the crops and cooking the food to feed their families, yet often are forced to go to bed hungry.”

Ruth Tripachi, Head of Policy for Concern Worldwide, says “Hunger cannot be addressed without involving and supporting poor women farmers who currently make up the majority of the world’s hungry. These women are, at the same time mothers, primary carers and farmers,” she adds. “Government and aid policies must acknowledge their multiple roles and support them.”

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