Government working to ease plight of women in rural areas
THE DEPARTMENT of Rural Development and Land Reform joined the rest of the world in commemorating International Day of Rural Women on Sunday. The UN declared the day in order to recognise the role of rural women in development and agriculture.
The department notes the good progress it is making in its efforts to empower rural women by providing agricultural production and tenure security and supporting rural enterprise development to create much-needed employment opportunities, among other other things.
Rural communities in South Africa are severely affected by the triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequality; women also face additional hurdles, which include a lack of access to land.
The department is working towards addressing the challenges by introducing programmes and legislation that allow for the allocation of land for agricultural production to women, and supporting infrastructure development and the provision of skills.
Women have benefited from the programmes, among them the One Hectare One Household project, which was introduced in 2015.
Through the initiative, rural households are each allocated portions of state land to produce crops for subsistence and for the market. Many successful projects have been recorded in various provinces, including the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga, with significant numbers of beneficiaries being rural women.
Through the land redistribution programme more than 60 000 women have been allocated land since 2009. The department has also provided material support in the form of finance, infrastructure and agricultural expertise, which have ensured some of the beneficiaries become successful farmers in the smallholder and commercial farming sector. In addition to this, security of tenure has also been extended to many women who had been labourers on farms and were under threat of eviction from their homes.
Amendments to legislation such as the Extension of Security of Tenure Act will offer greater protection to farmworkers from illegal eviction from farms. Women constitute large numbers of farmworkers and farm dwellers and are often the most vulnerable to unfair labour practices and eviction.
Rural women play a key role in food security and creating sustainable rural areas, yet they often don’t have sufficient power to secure land in many instances or vital resources such as credit, input costs of farming, extension services, training and education. The department is addressing these.
The department has also created opportunities for rural women who are not engaged in agriculture.
Last year it launched the Rural Arts and Craft Financial Institution Co-operative, which serves as a banking platform for rural women crafters who are members of co-operatives that have been established in KwaZuluNatal, the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
More than 800 women in arts, craft and design have been trained and supported in the manufacture of works of art including beaded jewellery, crockery and various pieces of art which are sold on local and international markets.
Recently their works have been featured at Decorex SA, a showcase of the latest dé cor and design trends in Johannesburg.
Women who are benefiting from the Mzantsi Arts and Craft initiative have seen substantial transformation of their livelihoods and over the years, it has become necessary for the formalisation of the financial vehicle in the form of the Mzansi Co-operative Financial Institution.
The department continues to improve its programmes and policies to ensure that women in rural communities enjoy the benefit of service delivery and empowerment. It also recognises that more has to be done.
For more information, follow us on @DRDLR_online, visit www.drdlr.gov. za or Facebook: Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. Linda Page Department of Rural Development and Land Reform