MS Zambia Newsletter June 2009

Lobby efforts bear fruit

Traditional leaders in Chipata in Zambia are now giving women land, following the efforts of MS Partner Chipata Diatrict Farmer's Association.

By Chipata District Farmer's Association

30. June 2009

Chipata District Farmers’ Association [CDFA] has been implementing activities under the thematic area of Land Rights and has given special focus to women's access to land.

In Chipata District, as in many other districts in Zambia, land access and control is almost exclusive to men. The authority to give customary land is exclusive to traditional leaders who for ages have been administering the land on behalf of all their subjects but have unfortunately been giving a blind eye to the women. Chipata DFA has come up with very innovative ways of ensuring equitable land access for rural female farmers.

Early this year, CDFA started the implementation of a project whose goal is to empower women to communally produce traditional highly nutritious crops for the support of orphans and women living in HIV/AIDS affected households.

The multiplier effect of this project, which CDFA sometimes calls the ‘Hidden agenda’, is to build the capacity of rural women to lobby and advocate for land access and control. CDFA gave inputs to 24 women groups each with an average of 30 members. The 720 women were facilitated to plant cassava, beans, garlic and bondwe as provided by the Association. CDFA knew that the women groups did not have land but nonetheless gave them the inputs to plant on communal gardens so they could use this initiative to lobby for land from traditional leaders who will have seen the impact of their initiative.

CDFA did subsequent training courses to build the capacity of women to firstly be able to plant and produce the provided crops, then be able to utilize or cook their foods effectively but most importantly be able to independent lobby their traditional leaders to give them land.

During community sensitization meetings for the project, CDFA invited all community members and traditional leaders. CDFA soon realized that an immediate output of the sensitization meetings was that traditional leaders pledged to give women in their areas land! Talk of innovative lobby tools! It is to be mentioned here that CDFA has sensitized both communities and traditional leaders on the importance of equitable access to land for poor and marginalized including women, but never has there been quick pledges to give land as there was this time! The traditional leaders in Chipata are now in a big hurry to empower women with land so that they can produce sustainably and better still, the women are in a hurry to use their new-found skills to relentlessly lobby for land access.

The traditional leaders have kept their word, 90 women in 3 women groups of Southern, Eastern and Chitandika blocks have been given land by their traditional leaders.

Furthermore, capacity has also been built through various trainings for the women to sustainably produce for food security and improved incomes from the sale of excess produce. Beneficial and sustainable networks have also been established between the women farmers and Extension Officers, Community Development Officers and Community health workers.

The organized women groups are now being used as conduits for better service delivery, channels for dissemination of information and forums for women empowerment and participation. The onus however remains with the women and their supporting organizations such as CDFA to advocate for security of the given land and CDFA hopes to find like-minded organizations to support this course.