Pretoria - Women in rural areas have been called on to form cooperatives so they can seize the many opportunities offered by government.
“Women must join hands and identify what is it that they can produce so that when they approach the government for help, it is easier to be provided with resources,” said Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform Candith Mashego-Dlamini.
She said women also need to secure long-term access or ownership to land if they are to be at the forefront of eradicating rural poverty.
The Deputy Minister was speaking in Port Shepstone on Thursday as part of the International Day of Rural Women.
The day was established by the United Nations in 2007 and recognises the role women play in rural development through fighting poverty by enhancing food security.
“As the world is celebrating the International Day of Rural Women, we recognise the huge role women play in enhancing agriculture and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.
“The department of rural development and land reform has played a key role in providing resources to support women’s empowerment and capacity building in agriculture across the country,” said Mashego-Dlamini.
Rural women face a number of challenges, said the Deputy Minister mentioning poverty, unemployment and disease.
The world over, rural women play a role in food security and creating sustainable rural areas yet they do not have sufficient power to secure land in many instances or vital resources such as credit, inputs costs of farming, extension services, training and education.
Rural women play a critical role in the rural economies for both developed and developing countries.
But Mashego-Dlamini said unless women have full access to land, obstacles to fighting rural poverty and underdevelopment will stagnate.
“In most parts of rural South Africa, they participate in crop production and livestock care, provide food, water and fuel for their families, and engage in off-farm activities to diversify their families’ livelihoods,” said Mashego-Dlamini.
“Maximum benefits can be achieved when farmers have secure rights to land and know they will have long-term ownership of the land, and are able to keep the profits. The International Day of Rural Women is an opportunity to focus global attention on the contributions and concerns of rural women, whose situations and voices are so often unheard, concluded the Deputy Minister.”
Mashego-Dlamini announced that an Agri-park would be established in the Ugu district.
An Agri-park is a farmer-controlled entity that serves as a catalyst around which rural industrialisation is planned to take place.
The aim is for the park to provide a network of contacts between producers, markets and processors, as well as infrastructure to process agricultural products. - SAnews.gov.za
