Moamba celebrates International Rural Women Day
It was still a fresh morning when dozens of women started preparing lunch. Sitting in groups, around pots for big families, eating leftovers from breakfast, they cooked sweet potatoes and rice, washed lettuce leaves and tomatoes, pounded garlic. Two oxen had been killed for the festive occasion. After all, it was the official celebration of the International Rural Women Day. And these rural women had come from all provinces of Mozambique for the celebration, their celebration.
The Mozambican Movement of Rural Women (MMMR), led by the civil society organization that promotes gender equality and rural development Woman, Gender and Development (in Portuguese: Mulher, Género e Desenvolvimento, MuGeDe) organized the event in partnership with Government institutions like the Ministries of Agriculture and Women and Social Action as well as the Technical Secretariat for Food Security and Nutrition (SETSAN). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) together with UN Women also participated in the celebration of the day. This year the commemoration took place in Moamba Secondary School, Moamba district, Maputo province.
An important day for FAO
In the year declared by the United Nations "International Year of Family Farming", Mozambique celebrated this day under the theme "Rural women: the warrants of family farming and the right to adequate food". The day, an annual celebration held on 15 October, aims at praising the role rural women play in strengthening the agricultural sector and the economy, in rural development and food security, "holds great symbolism for FAO", the Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Mozambique, Castro Camarada, said at the event.
"The struggle for the emancipation and empowerment of rural women is in a way linked to the strategic objectives of FAO." Camarada highlighted among others the decline in hunger and malnutrition as well as the promotion of food security and the reduction of rural poverty. "All of these objectives", Camarada proceeded, "strongly depend on the efforts of rural women".
The Vice Minister of Women and Social Action, Virgílio Mateus, also stressed the importance of these women "as warrants of the food our families eat". In fact, still today, around 80 percent of the Mozambican population lives in rural areas. About 99 percent of agricultural holdings belong to the family sector and production is mostly led by women. In addition, the Representative of UN Women, Florence Raes, mentioned that "from approximately 24 million inhabitants in Mozambique, 53 percent are women" and "87 percent of these women are rural women".
Rural women remain anonymous
Over one hundred rural women came together at Moamba Secondary School on Monday. They listened to the organizers of the event, performed dance acts and exhibited their products.
"Rural women in Mozambique have always played a crucial role in agricultural production". In her speech, MuGeDe’s Executive Director, Saquina Mucavele, said that "rural women are not only those who cultivate the land. They constitute a part of society".
"The Government of Mozambique", the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Daniel Clemente, stressed "has payed much attention to the empowerment of women in general". However, he continued, "their role still needs visibility". In turn, the Governor of Maputo province, Maria Elias Jonas, stated that "much is being done but it is not enough".
"We need to do more"
Government, civil society and partners shared the opinion that rural women still face challenges. "Some of them", Florence Raes said, "have been overcome". As an example she mentioned the role of women in food production and in agriculture in general. For Raes, however, "the biggest challenge remains human development in general", although there are other more specific ones like "inequality between men and women which is still visible in Mozambique".
This inequality of rights between men and women reflects the lack of opportunity for development and empowerment of women. Not only does the illiteracy rate remain much higher among women, especially in rural areas, but the fact that they cannot read or write limits their access to information. The access to agricultural inputs, extension services and credit loans remains low, too. The access to water is still difficult. And so is the access to land, mentioned by Maria Elias Jonas, who reminded that in Maputo province "women still do not have land ownership".
2014, the "International Year of Family Farming" is thus an "odd opportunity to direct public policies to rural women", Daniel Clemente concluded, while Saquina Mucavele advocated that "to support rural women is to support rural development and, ultimately, society in general".