15 October – World Rural Women’s Day
Fighting poverty with knowledge
Paris, 15 October 2002 – “Women farmers must have access to education and training in order to succeed in the fight against poverty”, this is the message of the World Rural Women’s Day 2002. The Chair of the Standing Committee on Women in Agriculture of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP), Mrs. Victoria Kakoko Sebagereka, is encouraging initiatives allowing female producers better access to education and training. This is essential for sustainable development.
Mrs. Kakoko Sebagereka said that “education and training is a strategic weapon to fight world hunger because it allows women to not only improve their production but also to pass their knowledge on to the younger generation, the first step to becoming independent and self-reliant.” Supporting education and training of women farmers also means contributing to better food security, to more profitable agricultural and non agricultural activities, and to better family health and nutrition.
The special focus of the 2002 World Rural Women’s Day is “Poverty is Everybody’s Business : Education and Training, a key for poverty eradication”. This worldwide event is intended to build awareness among the population and governments of the world of the realities facing women farmers and of the absolute necessity of supporting them in their daily activities.
Some statistics: Three quarters of the world’s 1.2 billion extremely poor people live and work in rural areas. According to FAO estimates, women produce more than 50% of the food grown worldwide. This includes up to 80% of food produced by women in African countries, 60% in Asia and between 30 and 40% in South America.
Note : The World Rural Women’s Day 2002 Background paper and the IFAP Standing Committee on Women in Agriculture President’s Open letter are available at: http://www.ifap.org
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IFAP is the world farmers’ organization representing over 500 farm families in 71 countries, including 44 developing countries. The IFAP Standing Committee on Women in Agriculture is a permanent discussion group devoted to the development of farm women’s activities, the recognition of their rights and the broadening of representation for women within farm organizations.
For information: Ms. Julie Emond, Communications Coordinator
International Federation of Agricultural Producers
Phone: +33 1 45 26 05 53 Fax: +33 1 48 74 72 12
60, rue Saint-Lazare, 75009 Paris, France
E-mail: julie.emond@ifap.org Website: http://www.ifap.org