No woman would ever wish to see her family go hungry. She would rather sacrifice her small piece of ugali to her child just to make sure the child is well fed. Yes, that’s how far a woman would go for what she cares about. Women do their work with passion and determination because they know something good will come out of it. now imagine if this effort was put into farming, how would lives change? We need to empower women to become farmers because they are critical to food survival
Agriculture is the main source of income for most households in Kenya. Most of these households practice small scale farming and get just enough to get by. Majority of those who practice small scale farming are the rural women. This is either because they lack the resources to expand their farmlands or society wont let them. Most societies are patriarchal and they are the greatest enemies of progress because they do not let women use their knowledge and talent for the good of society.
Rural women make the most out of small farms as the food they grow will sustain the family and a few of the neighbours for quite some time. They grow vegetables in the small chunks of land their husbands gave them in their backyard. They eat some of these vegetables and sell the rest to the neighbours and they keep growing them to ensure they never run out. With bag farms, therefore, they would make every inch thrive because they now that even the smallest bit of land can make a big difference.
Show a woman that you trust her with the farm and she will be more than willing to prove you right. With the right support, both moral and material, she will become highly productive and even you would be surprised at the things she is capable of doing. She will make sure that whatever is in the farm gets what it needs no matter how hard.
Women in the rural parts are used to working long hours and receiving low wages. they do not grow tired easily and it is normal to see a woman on the farm with her jembe from sunrise to sunset, and she will still have the energy to cook for her family and do other chores. She will wake up the following day early in the morning to feed and milk the cows and ensure they are comfortable before heading back to the farm to continue where she left off the previous day. With this energy she would make a huge difference in any big farm and the results will be increased production and increased profits.
Women also adapt to change quickly and will go with whatever is trending in regards to farming. They are used to things not happening their way all the time and they will immediately go for other available options. With this ability you can be assured that they will never leave the farms unattended no matter how big the change.
It is high time we start to recognize women as the backbone of society because they make many things possible either by providing a helping hand or doing the work themselves. They need political, moral, and financial support in order to succeed. It is only when we do this that we’ll start realizing what we’ve been missing all along.