This blog has been taken from an excerpt written by Maryellen Kennedy Duckett featured in National Geographic, Creative works.
"Women are the fastest growing group of new farmers and I believe that is good for everyone because women tend to be community oriented, Coulter says."There's a quote that really reaches out to me that goes something like , "If you teach a man to farm his family will eat . If you teach a woman to farm the community will eat."
And as the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) reports,if women farmers gain access to the same resources as their male counterparts , the entire world will eat too.
In much of the world , the face of farming is woman. globally , reports the United Nations, FAO, the majority of economically active women in the least developed countries work in agriculture. And according to the 2012 census, 30 percent of the farmers in the US, are women
A worldwide effort to level the playing field for women farmers is gaining momentum .In western Uganda for example , the PepsiCo Foundation is teaming up with the global humanitarian organization CARE, to equip small holder female farmers with the knowledge and technical support to grow high demand technical crops using sustainable agriculture methods.
Closing the Crop Gap a global campaign has been designed to promote awareness of women in agriculture and offer them a platform to share their own stories in their own words.
So did we identify the problem, Yes .
Obstacles are gender specific such as lack of access to land , financing, markets, agricultural training, and education, suitable working conditions, and equal treatment ,suitable working conditions and equal treatment-put female farmers at a significant disadvantage before they ever plow a field or sow a seed.
Yet even with female farmers expending extra effort (worldwide women work more hours than men )they substantially lag behind their male counterparts when it comes to their own crop yields and earnings.
On average ,women run farms produce 20 to 30 percent less than farms run by men. The reasons for this "crop gap according to the FAO, have nothing to do with an aptitude for gaming and everything to do with the gender -specific obstacles.
The biggest road block identified is land rights. In developing countries ,only 10 to 20 percent of land holders are women and in some parts of the world women still cannot legally own or control land. When a female farmers isint
Empowered about the land she works, it is impossible for her to enter contract farming agreements that could provide higher earnings and reliable sources of income.
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