BLOEMFONTEIN – Due to climate change and perceived gender roles, women operating in the agricultural sector continue to face challenges around food and economic security.
Julie Allie spoke to Aslam Tawana, a dairy farmer and agriculturalist, about women in rural agriculture who have been stricken by the effects of climate change and perceived gender roles. To listen to the full discussion, click here.
“Over the years, our carbon [foot]print and climate change has caused a lack of resources that used to help female farmers produce. [This] now threatens their food security,” said Aslam Tawana, a dairy farmer and advocate for women’s involvement in agriculture.
Busisiwe Mgangxela, 59, an Eastern Cape farmer from Middledrift trains nearly 300 women in organic farming through WhatsApp. She told Daily Maverick that, while all farmers experience climate change and its effects, it is women who are mostly affected as they are crop, horticulture and livestock farmers – they are involved in forms of farming that require lots of water.
This [climate change] has a direct impact on women – Aslam Tawana, an advocate for women in agriculture
His opinion on climate change is that the more we contribute to carbon emissions, South Africa will have a food security problem in rural areas. This poses a threat to many livelihoods and female farmers.
“This has a direct impact on women,” he said, referring to women and children who have been affected by climate change.
Tawana and his team are trying to close the gender gap and advocate for women in agriculture by getting corporates involved in educational projects. The aim is to educate women on agriculture and food sustainability so that women in agriculture can work together to become self-sufficient.
Listen to the full discussion here:
