Africa: Women encouraged to practice agro-ecology

Experts have said that in extreme El Nino years, agricultural production in Sub-Saharan Africa could drop by 20-50%. Women farmers are the main producers of staple crops and account for 90% of the rural poor’s consumption, meaning they will be badly hit by climate change.

Despite this looming danger, experts at COP17 in Durban, South Africa have recommended the adoption of new ways of farming, such as agro-ecology. Agro-ecology, also known as climate change “smart” agriculture, is a farming practice that encourages farmers to use locally produced seeds, manure and natural ways of controlling pests, as opposed to exotic seeds and chemicals.

Climatologists argue that the use of chemicals in agriculture has not only led to soil degradation but pollution of water bodies as well. It is against this background that climate change adaptation advocates are challenging farmers to adopt agro-ecology to mitigate climate change’s effects.

Bio-Watch Africa’s Lawrence Mkhaliphi urged farmers at the conference, mostly women, to desist from using genetically modified organisms and chemicals in order to save the planet. He also mentioned that agro-ecology generally helps to create a  healthier environment.

“Apart from being a source of healthy food, agro-ecology agriculture helps to keep your house and the environment around you clean because it encourages recycling,” Mkhaliphi said.

A Ugandan female farmer, Patricia Makizyo, encouraged women farmers to capitalise on agro-ecology agriculture as it is rewarding and very easy to practice. She has been practising this type of farming for the past five years. She also shares her knowledge, equipping other farmers with skills and basic resources. Makizyo underscored that, “over the years, I have improved the quality of my seeds and livestock breeds through cross breeding. In terms of yields, agro-ecology is not different from the commonly practiced agriculture.”

Mkhaliphi, whose organisation targets women farmers in areas of biodiversity, food security and social justice, among other things, further said that women farmers should be the first to adopt this type of farming. “Agro-ecology is one way of protecting our environment hence a need for women farmers to lead by example because climate change effects will hit them hard unlike men.”

In a different presentation, Mpathelani Makaulule from Mupo Foundation in Limpopo, South Africa outlined how her organisation is empowering women with skills and knowledge to protect the ecosystem. “Mupo” is a powerful and sensitive TshiVenda word which means ‘all living things’, ‘natural creation’ and represents life, connecting a person to nature,” she said. “Mupo Foundation is passionately aiming to ensure that communities contribute to the enhancement and conservation of a rich biodiversity within the natural world.”

The organisation works to revive the use of indigenous seeds, particularly finger millet. Finger millet (‘mufhoho’ in TshiVenda)  served as a staple crop prior to the introduction of maize but remains useful and sacred in the preparation of traditional drinks, as well as in rituals. In this light, the revival of finger millet is important and crucial to enhancing biodiversity and food sustainability. Finger millet is also  a drought resistant crop.

Among its several objectives, the project aims to support women’s leadership roles and rights, “especially their capacity to assert their leadership, exercise their rights and responsibilities in terms of indigenous knowledge and governance systems….” Elderly women are at the forefront of running the Mupo project. They are also responsible for imparting indigenous knowledge to young women on how to protect the environment and traditional modes of agriculture.

These and other initiatives need to be shared as best practices within the African context. In the context of climate change, agro-ecology agriculture requires not only the need to understand the adoption of new natural farming methods. It is equally essential to consider ways in which climate change will affect ecosystems and biodiversity, and how to protect them. Indigenous knowledge becomes vital in this regard.

Women, who dominate small-scale farming in communities, can be empowered in this way. Agro-ecology agriculture is economical, making use of available resources, meaning women who often do not have access to financial resources can have a debt free livelihood.

Daud Kayisi is the Gender and Media Diversity Centre (GMDC) Programme Officer and Ticha Tsedu GMDC intern at Gender Links. This article is part of the GL Opinion and Commentary Service and African Woman and Child Feature Service special series for the Sixteen Days of Activism on Gender Violence and COP 17 Conference.