Rural women poised to receive support in climate-smart agriculture
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Women farmers in rural areas of Cameroon will receive support from UN Women for direct access to better skills, credit products, market opportunities, information and other services between the year 2018 and 2020.
Farmer exhibits her agricultural produce at a local market in Cameroon| Photo Credit: UN Women, Fajong Joseph
This support lies within the framework of the UN Women flagship programing initiative on women’s empowerment through climate-smart agriculture in rural areas. The three-year program was reviewed and validated on 29th May 2017 in Yaounde- by a cross section of the government, civil society organisations, micro finance establishments, farmers, consultants, potential donors and development partners.
The Resident Representative of UN Women Cameroon, Adama Moussa, spoke during the opening workshop to validate the flagship programme on rural women’s economic empowerment through climate resilient agriculture in Cameroon. He said that the flagship program will be focused on five key areas: land (land mapping and titling, harvest forecast and regular updates), affordable finance (asset information, sales contract, and investment tract records), climate smart information and skills (text messages, links to trainings and resources) and markets (access to suppliers, customers, and financiers).
“Our goal is to see how women farmers in rural areas can be key contributors to the emergence of Cameroon’s economy by 2035. That is why we want to ensure in the validation workshop that the program meets the needs of the country and activities align with the national policies”, Adama Moussa added.
“The flagship program will inspire women to gain confidence, assets and a sense of control over their lives,” says Sarr Oulimata, the Regional Policy Adviser for Women and Economic Empowerment. The USD 11,609,115 focused entirely on the flagship program is expected to kick start in 2018. It will target cooperatives in the agriculture value chain, small and medium size enterprises including 100,000 women and will be focused in the three Northern regions of Cameroon, Central and the East regions.
Participants during the validation workshop of flag ship program| Photo Credit: UN Women, Fajong Joseph