Rural agriculture: Where do poor women farmers stand?

abstract

This briefing interrogates ways in which approaches to reduce rural poverty through agriculture in what has been called the ‘second green revolution’ will affect rural farmers, especially women. As African governments face pressure to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), there are growing fears that the proposed technological approaches to poverty reduction may be implemented too hastily, without taking into account lessons learnt during the ‘first green revolution’. Experts fear that irreversible harm will be caused to both the environment and farmers, especially due to the expected accelerated use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in rural agriculture. This briefing suggests that introduction of changes to rural agriculture should take cognisance of the fact that rural communities are socio-cultural systems in which farmers have extensive knowledge of their ecosystems and developed farming techniques accordingly. External factors may not necessarily bring positive change to rural agriculture unless farmers are included in planning and implementation processes from the beginning. Of concern also are issues of violation of farmers' human rights, particularly those of women farmers, low skills levels and inadequate access to resources and information to make informed decisions. If these are not corrected, the ‘second green revolution’ will not succeed.

keywords:

• green revolution
• rural agriculture
• Eastern Cape
• GMO