Women and Agriculture

This video pretty much says it all.  I showed it to my gender class yesterday and, to my surprise, they clapped and some of them whipped out their cellphones and tried to record it.

“That’s it!” Edwin yelled as it faded out.

Maybe we’re getting somewhere.  Maybe they’re starting to see it isn’t about me and what I think, but what’s best for all of us.  Men and women.

Research shows that improving women’s access to education does more to reduce hunger in a country than improving access to food and medical facilities.  That’s powerful.

If you educate a woman she’s more likely to know how to exercise her property rights and access credit, extension services and inputs like improved seeds and fertilizers.  She’s also more likely to share decision-making rights in the home which can increase her children’s rate of survival by as much as 20% (UNHCR 2012).

I’ve watched the video a dozen times but it still chokes me up a bit.  It just seems so simple.  If you want a better life you have to allow women to live a better life.

“Men and women should own the world as a mutual possession.”
― Pearl S. Buck