Women in Mali face a number of barriers – lack of access to land, low literacy levels (18%) and less access to formal education. The average woman has six children and grows vegetables and rice on a small plot of land.
So what would it mean to families in Mali if women were able to be more productive in agriculture?
USAID, in a Global State of Agriculture infographic, says that women could increase crop yields around the world by 20-30% with equal access to resources. This would feed more than 150 million people!
We also found this interactive infographic on the website of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The information shows how “all farmers need quality land to yield a good harvest. Women in the developing world are 5 times less likely than men to own land, and their farms are usually smaller and less fertile.”
And from the Female Face of Farming, on the Farming First website, “The vast majority of studies have found that differences in yields between men and women exist not because women are less skilled but because they have less access to inputs such as improved seeds, fertilizers and equipment.”
This is why myAgro offers programs for women including our Women’s Peanut Program. MyAgro women have the opportunity to save for fertilizer, seeds and training.
We believe that by empowering and investing in rural women, we can increase productivity, reduce hunger and malnutrition and improve rural livelihoods not only for women, but for their families as well!
