CADECOM in solidarity on women farmers access to land

BY PRINCE HENDERSON

The Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM) in solidarity with other Civil Society Organisations that include Oxfam, Civil Society Agriculture Network and Actionaid among others in support of women farmers in their dream towards actualization of land rights in Africa.

The women farmers are complaining about land acquisition and registration hence call upon African governments to critically address their concerns.

Chairlady for Rural Women Assembly in Malawi, Alice Kachere presented the Charter of Demands to the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in Lilongwe, Atupere Muluzi while on their transit for a Caravan to Mount Kilimanjaro in Arusha, Tanzania where they will present the same to African governments.

She said, rural women farmers play a key role in food production and food security in Malawi and as such access to land and secure tenure rights therefore remains critical for food production and to the welfare of the entire household.

“However, despite this recognition, rural women in Malawi and across Africa are facing a lot of challenges in agricultural development due to lack of access and control over productive resources including land,” said Kachere.

She said this has prompted the call on the Africa wide Food and Climate Justice campaign to raise our voice on the challenges we face and to call for commitment in addressing these challenges by national governments, development partners, private sector, civil society and our male counterparts.

“We are coming together to campaign for land for women at regional level – with a spike during this October week 2016 when rural women from across Africa have been mobilized and travel to Kilimanjaro to hold a summit to demand women’s land rights,” she added.

According to Kachere figures indicate that women account for 60 percent to 80 percent of smallholder farmers and produce 90 percent of food in Africa and about half of all food worldwide, yet women are much less likely than men to own land, and their farms are usually smaller and less fertile. Women control less than one percent of land in Africa.

She therefore, called on for an immediately start allocating adequate resources towards implementation of land related laws and also put in place systems and guidelines to ensure gender sensitive land governance in the country; starting with next Fiscal year (Financial Year 2017/2018). enact the Registered Land (Amendment) and Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bills in the shortest period.

Responding to the Charter of Demands as expressed by the women farmers, Minister responsible, Atupere Muluzi said it was pleasing to note that the demands were presented at a time when Malawi Parliament recently passed Land Laws that have since been assented the Head of State, His Excellency Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika.

“The Malawi Land Laws, amongst other issues, have already taken into account and addressed gender related issues in land governance and tenure security for which you are campaigning for with African Governments,”said Muluzi.

He promised that his Ministry will work tirelessly towards ensuring that women are fully empowered in as far as decision making on issues that affect their day to day livelihood is concerned particularly in regard to land administration and management.

“I would like to assure you that my Ministry has received the Charter and will definitely act on the demands presented therein, that is if there were not already addressed.

National CADECOM Secretary, Martin Mazinga applauded the initiative and called upon government to act swiftly in addressing land related challenges faced by women face as this is key to realization of their aspirations on increased agricultural productivity.

“As major food producers, women deserve a better share of land; it is their own survival tool in addressing agricultural inequality which exacerbate poverty and suffering” explained Mazinga.

Rural women farmers from Zimbabwe and Zambia who are on a Caravan entered Malawi through Mwami Border in Mchinji district where they were joined by Malawian women enroute to Tanzania for the iconic event at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro