A special message for the conference:
“Enhancement of Women Farmers’ Role in the Development of Rural Asia”
International Conference Hall, ITTC, RDA, Suwon, Korea
October 15-19, 2007
To the Leaders of FFTC,
To the Presiding Officer of this Session
And to all the men and women participants of this conference,
Anneong haseyo! A pleasant and good morning to all of you.
First of all, I would like to congratulate the organizers of this conference. You have brought together important actors in agriculture and rural development in Asia; for a very important agenda: that of enhancing women’s role in agricultural development. I also would like to congratulate the participants gathered here. You have come to our very beautiful and friendly country, Korea, during one of its best seasons – the autumn season. This is the season of harvest, or “ch’ usok”, and we celebrate this much like the Thanksgiving of America.
I am very sorry I cannot be physically present in this conference. Our organization, the Korean Advanced Farmers” Federation or KAFF, is very much involved in the most recent elections in our country’s national agricultural cooperative federation. By the time you read this, I may have won or may have lost in the post I ran for. But win or lose, it will be very difficult for me to be in this conference because of the many post –election work that has to be done.
I was looking for a woman to represent me and AFA in this conference, since this conference is about women. But KAFF leaders are men. Our wives are members of KAFFs women counterpart, the Women’s Advanced Farmers’ Federation or WAFF. But WAFF is not a member of the Asian Farmers Association, or AFA, which I am currently chairing. So it will not be wise for WAFF to represent AFA. But then, this made me realize – why is WAFF not a member of AFA? Why only KAFF?
I think there goes one of the main problems of small women farmers in Asia.
AFA’s efforts on empowerment of women farmers
We all know that women farmers have always had a very important role and continue to make very significant contributions to agriculture – having discovered it even in prehistoric times. Yet, women’s work and worth is largely unrecognized, undervalued, marginalized. It is a fact that In the Asia-Pacific region, poverty has a woman’s face. Two-thirds of the world’s poor live in this region, majority of whom are women. In many societies, women are denied access to basic services and essential assets such as land, and excluded from decision-making. Women are last to eat, last to see a doctor.
We in AFA dream of decent and happy lives for small farmers, men and women. We dream of farmer-couples in a relationship of equals, who share both the responsibilities at home and in the farm, and enjoy the fruits of their labor together.
But we all realize that women have distinct needs and concerns. These needs and concerns must be responded in ways that help them regain their confidence, remove obstacles to their participation, and re-empower them to achieve their full potentials.
This is a daunting task but we know we have to start somewhere.
Our member from the Philippines, PAKISAMA, has organized its women arm, called LAKAMBINI, through a series of gender sensitivity training sessions and participatory action researchers. The gender sensitivity sessions were held first for women members, then men leaders and husbands. The action researchers have raised their awareness in gender disparities at home and in agriculture, providing the impetus for organizing a separate women’s structure.
PAKISAMA has an affirmative action policy in its Constitution and laws. It has a gender policy, which is, it automatically gives 30% of its leadership seats for women, and allocates the same percentage for its training activities. Also, it has an Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy.
PAKISAMA prides on this, claiming no other national peasant organization in the country has this explicit national policy. Also, LAKAMBINI was a major advocacy player in the current government policy to include the spouse’s name in the titles to be awarded to agrarian reform beneficiaries, as well as to allocate 5% of the budgets of the local government units to gender and development projects and activities. LAKAMBINI has implemented actively with PAKISAMA, projects on sustainable agriculture and micro-financing.
Our member from Thailand, SorKorPor, realizing the value of a separate women’s structurre, has organized its women farmer-members, at both regional and national levels in 2005. Furthermore, SorKorPor coordinates with Health Promotion, an independent organization, to work together on women farmers’ health issues. Like PAKISAM, SorKorPor tries to ensure that in all of its activities and committee, at least 1/3 of the participants are women, as part of its affirmative action. Also, SorKorPor had a woman Chairperson for three years, who also became the Vice Chairperson of AFA.
Our member in Cambodia, Farmer and Nature Net, plans to set up its own national women’s network under its umbrella. In preparation for this, it has set up Women’s Groups at village levels for sharing knowledge and experiences on various topics such as ecological agriculture, health and nutrition, food processing, improved cooked stove, family planning and managing, local seed protection, and savings scheme. At present there are 358 womens’ groups in 10 provinces with 5,280 members and with 94,449,000 riels (US$23,612) in savings. Some women groups have also organized child care centers, set up small businesses for food processing and handicrafts as well.
Our member in Vietnam, the Vietnam Farmers’ Union, representing 9 million men and women farmers, regularly provides leadership training and education programs to potential women leaders. They are informed of the positions that they will carry out in the future. Also, VNFU allocates around VND 100 M for specific activities like conferences, training activities, information dissemination, and publication. It also has a committee for the advancement of rural women.
Our member in Indonesia, Aliansi Petani Indonesia or API, is developing its gender programs, starting with gender sensitivity sessions, considering the culture and religion of the women in the designing of gender sensitive processes, methods and tools. Already, there is increased participation and representation in API structures, both at local, regional and national levels.
The Challenges We Face
AFA’s members are doing something to uplift the conditions of their women members – socially, politically and economically. It is our task in AFA, as a regional alliance, to help sustain and upgrade these activities. We are committed to the following:
o Help enhance the status of women and gain recognition for their important contribution to agriculture and rural development
o Support the development of their leadership capacities and so that they can participate in all levels of their organization as well as their governments
o Ensure that its programs and services to its members are adapted to the particular needs of women farmers
o At the least, share information; at the most, manage on-ground agricultural projects that involve mostly women and that aim to increase their incomes and make them economically independent from their men.
o Hold regular consultations and fora about women’ situation, needs, and successes as well, that will fire up their creativity and celebrate their victories.
o We hope that in the near future, we can establish our own women’s arm! So that it will be the women who will represent the interests of women farmers in all regional and international advocacies, gatherings and linkages.
Women Farmers Need Your Support
Women farmers can lead happier lives. This is very possible if they can have control and access of land and other productive resources; can decide on matters affecting themselves – personally and work-wise, can have increased income, can have more rest and play and good relationships with the family.
I think many of the multi-lateral institutions – such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank – has made mainstreaming its strategy for gender and development. I agree with this, as long as mainstreaming efforts take into first consideration the strategic needs of women, given women’s reproductive roles, physique, psychology. Mainstreaming should also target men – as we have to increase our own appreciation of women’s roles in agricultural development.
Women farmers need the support of FFTC, in developing and disseminating technologies that are friendly to women and that promote their health.
Women farmers need the support of NGOs, in building their capacities for organizing, for marketing and trading their products, for advocacy and lobbying.
Women farmer need the support of academe, in analyzing their issues, in raising the consciousness of decision makers about their plight and interests.
Women farmers need the support of funding partners – those that will invest with them in projects and activities that will help them lead happier lives.
Closing
In closing, I do hope you enjoy your stay here. I know many people enjoy our Korean tele-novelas. But I do hope that you will also enjoy the rest of your stay here. We hope the autumn will be a very nice weather to you all. We have an old saying here: Autumn is when “the sky is high and the horses grow fat”. So, don’t over-watch your weight; just indulge.
But most of all, I hope you find this conference a very meaningful one, where you can share your dreams about women empowerment. We have a saying that a dream of one person will quickly die. But the dream of many persons will someday come true. I know we all share this dream of women empowerment. So I believe Asian women farmers will have quality lives more and more. However, I do sincerely hope they don’t overpower the men, just be equals with us. 🙂
Thank you very much and have a pleasant stay!
SEO, Jung Eui
Chairperson
AFA (Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development)
0ctober 15, 2007
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