Sudan: Women Farmers Unite
The Problem
Rural women in Sudan face a triple crisis of poverty, environmental degradation, and armed conflict. Many are struggling to provide enough food to keep their families from starving. Mothers often go hungry to ensure that their children can eat. Despite this sacrifice, UNICEF estimates that more than 40% of children under age five in Sudan suffer from malnutrition and girls are more likely to die in childbirth than complete primary school. The effects of global climate change are wreaking havoc in Sudan, where intermittent droughts and floods are destroying crops and making farmers’ traditional knowledge obsolete. Many of these farmers are women, who grow and harvest the majority of food crops in Sudan. Yet, the government's farm aid programs traditionally exclude women, denying them credit and agricultural inputs, such as seeds and fertilizer.
Ongoing warfare in Darfur has caused millions of people to flee and settle elsewhere, creating a need to grow more food on soil that’s been depleted by climate change and stretching the meager resources of poor farming communities to the limit.
The Solution
MADRE supports women farmers so that they can grow the food their families need to survive. Unlike emergency food aid, Women Farmers Unite gives women the tools, resources and technical assistance they need to sustain their families for the long haul. The program, conducted with MADRE’s Sudanese partner organization Zenab for Women in Development, provides women farmers with seeds and supplies, including donkeys and plows.Along with agricultural extension services, we provide:
- human rights trainings to women farmers on topics such as reproductive health, HIV/AIDS prevention, peace building and political participation.
- material goods such as eyeglasses and medical supplies in order to strengthen women farmers’ health and their ability to provide for their families and communities.
- trainings to help women farmers adapt to climate change by teaching them about new weather patterns, providing instruction on how to adjust soil preparation, planting and harvesting accordingly, and how to harvest rain water and dig shallow wells in villages.
The Results
- Hunger is alleviated and nutrition and health improve as women gain the resources they need to grow and produce food.
- By working together to grow crops, participants build a network of women farmers who can share resources and work to boost their economic status over time, improving conditions for themselves and their families not just today, but well into the future.
- The women’s improved economic status and organizing skills enhance their decision-making power within their communities and their capacity to demand human rights for themselves and their children.
- The Union's 2,000 members have increased their agricultural yields, enabling them to boost food security and generate income from surplus crops.
- Women have pooled their income to invest in local development projects that build the long-term sustainability of their farming communities. For instance, in the area of Gungulisa, members of the union refurbished an adult education center for women, while in Waddaed, women farmers are working together to bring electricity to their communities.
- Many participants are using their increased incomes to pay for their daughters’ educations, breaking the cycle of poverty and increasing the chances for further political, economic and social empowerment.
