Rural women do it for themselves as they aim to stop food insecurity
Chickens sold and vegetables grown
Women in rural areas often bear the brunt of economic hardships such as unemployment and food insecurity and need to be supported in efforts to combat this.
This is according to Likhapha Mbatha, managing director of The National Movement of Rural Women, which seeks to help poor women in rural areas to be economically emancipated.
She was speaking ahead of International Day of Rural Women which is celebrated today.
“Rural women are the backbone of society and it is imperative to understand the vital role they play in assisting families to put food on the table on a daily basis. In commemorating International Day of Rural Women, it is important that all South Africans assist rural women in fulfilling their duties by opting to buy their fresh produce and ensuring that their contribution to food production translates into economic participation by creating employment which may result in the reduction of rural to urban migration,” said Mbatha.
This year’s theme: Rural Women Cultivating Good Food for All, aims to highlight the work rural women do to stop food insecurity.
Wendy Pretorius is one of the women who came together with other unemployed women in 2012 to start their Sikhala Sonke piggery after seeing men die in Marikana, North West, while protesting for a living wage.
“We did not want to depend on jobs at the mines after we
saw people dying in our town during the protests.
“So we decided to come together as women to put food on the table,” Pretorius said.
They started by selling chickens to raise money to be able to buy pigs to sell at auctions.
“There are no jobs in rural areas,” Pretorius said.
“Women face these issues the most because men leave us
with children and we must provide for them even if we have no money and jobs,” she said.
Pretorius said although they are unable to pay themselves a salary at the moment, they have a garden where they grow vegetables on to feed their families and chickens that they share among their 13 families.
Itireleng Monokoa and four
women from her community in Maboloka, North West, run a broiler business called Bokamoso Broilers that has been selling chickens since 2016.
“We started with 500 broilers and as we grew we started buying 1,500 every three weeks,” she said.
Monokoa said they sell their chickens to small businesses that cook and other people who want to re-sell them. She said the business has helped make her and her partners financially independent and is helping them feed their children and to extend their homes without only depending on their partners or grants.
“I want to hire more people and provide chickens that can be used for braai packs and sold in major commercial stores,” she said.
There are no jobs in rural areas, hence our initiative