This week the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) marks the International Women’s Day to celebrate women and challenge stereotypes in the society.
To commemorate the day, marked globally on 8 March, AATF will have speeches from staff led by women professionals at the Foundation’s head offices in Nairobi, Kenya. The day is marked to celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness, highlight gender parity and change perceptions and stereotypes.
As we join the global community in celebrating International Women’s Day themed ‘pressing for progress’ the day brings out the important moment on our commitment to women’s equality. Two main goals from the AATF gender strategy is to mainstream gender in our projects and at the work place.
At AATF women hold senior and professional positions that help drive its strategy forward while recognizing and celebrating the critical role women play in agricultural development. According to a new report jointly published by the World Bank Group and the ONE Campaign, while women constitute almost half of the agricultural workers in Sub-Saharan Africa, productivity on their farms is significantly lower per hectare compared to men.
Similarly, the report noted that while women make up a large share of Africa’s farmers, they tend to be locked out of land ownership, access to credit and productive farm inputs, farming tools and other factors essential to their productivity. AATF is committed to addressing such gender inequalities in its projects for the benefit of improving livelihoods of smallholder farmers and agricultural development in Africa.
AATF joins the world in celebrating International Women’s Day and salutes all the women for their contribution in Africa’s agricultural development.