On 1st October 2023, the Uganda National Farmers Federation (UNFFE), in partnership with the German Association of Rural Women Farmers, flagged 20 Women farmers to the Federal Republic of Germany for a 10-day exposure, learning, and knowledge-sharing expedition. While in Germany, the team will be able to visit fellow rural women farmers in Frankfurt, and neighbouring areas. This is one of the initiatives under the project to Strengthen Rural Women Farmers’ involvement in Strategic Agricultural-related Activities (SWISA) implemented in District Farmers’ Associations across the country.
It should be noted that women play a critical and potentially transformative role in agricultural growth and sustainable development however, recent studies by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) indicate that the contribution of women to agricultural and food production is significant but it is impossible to verify empirically the share produced by women.
Women’s participation in rural labour markets is over-represented in unpaid, seasonal and part-time work, and the available evidence suggests that women are often paid less than men, for the same work which puts them at a losing end. This is why the SWISA project is mainly looking at building women’s leadership and decision-making capabilities about agricultural production, access to productive resources, and control over the use of income.
UNFFE and its partners hope that such exposure, learning and knowledge-sharing visits will provide a platform where women can develop initiatives that are geared at helping them overcome the persistent obstacles and economic constraints limiting their further inclusion in the agricultural sector.
