Renewed focus on women who farm

Megan Rowling (Reuters) – International Herald Tribune – 29 Dec, 2008

A woman cooking in Lipunga, Malawi. Women in Africa often bear the burden of farming to feed their families, while men tend to raise cash crops or leave for work in the cities. (Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters)

LONDON: Like many other African women, Mazoe Gondwe is her family’s main food provider. Lately, she has struggled to farm her plot in Malawi as the unpredictability of rain makes her hard life even tougher.

“Now we can’t just depend on rain-fed agriculture, so we plant two crops – one watered with rain and one that needs irrigating,” she explained. “But irrigation is back-breaking and can take four hours a day.”

Gondwe, who was flown by the development agency ActionAid to Poland for UN talks on climate change this month, said she wanted access to technology that would cut the time it took to water her crops and till her garden. She would also be glad of help in improving storage facilities and seed varieties.

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