Food is very precious and it’ll be even more so in the future. The global population is growing at an extremely fast rate and many environmental factors will threaten our food production. Therefore, a very important question has to be raised: How will we manage to provide each and every human being on the planet with enough food?

One component of a possible solution is to strengthen women in agriculture. According to a UN report, 150 million people less would suffer from hunger if only women had the same access to resources as men. In other words, in changing women’s situation rests great leverage to change the entire world.

However, despite the great underutilized potential, women in agriculture in developing countries are faced with many challenges. The main ones are restricted access to education, limited financial resources and unfair land rights.

Not only do women represent at least 50% of the labour force in agriculture, but they also produce 80% of all agricultural products in developing countries. Still, there are already many women fighting for their rights and for better conditions in their villages, communities and countries.

These women are busy revolutionizing and effectively increasing food production on a daily level. For example, by offering better access to financial resources and living income to other women, or by sharing important knowledge to prevent very detrimental post-harvest losses.

That’s why BMZ had called to life the Game Changers – Women in Agriculture award which aimed to honor seven women’s extraordinary contributions to agriculture in rural areas. The award was initiated in the context of the special initiative ONE WORLD – No Hunger, implemented by GIZ.

Discover seven success stories in a multimedia exhibition

To give those women the opportunity to express themselves and to tell their inspiring stories, an online exhibition was set up last year. It shows their success stories in a colorful way with authentic pictures, videos, infographics and texts.

The women who were selected for the exhibition are living in Africa and Asia: From Benin and Togo to Ghana and South Sudan, all the way to India.

By building their own companies, setting up women farmer organizations and fighting for land rights, the seven Game Changers did not only become a huge inspiration for the rural world but emerged as real pioneers. They also showcase diversity on many different levels. For example, by coming from different agricultural sectors such as the rice, cashew and tomato sector, or by being at different stages in their lives and having their own idiosyncratic personalities at times.

Be it a young entrepreneur from Benin who happens to be a mother as well or a middle-aged advocate for women’s rights: Thanks to the Game Changers, many other women in Africa’s and Asia’s agriculture are inspired to strive forward.

Meet the seven Game Changers. Click below to plunge right into the exhibition:

Game Changers – Women in Agriculture | Digitale Ausstellung (multimedia-for-development.org)

Contact

Noémie Tokplen (author), communication department, sector project Sustainable Rural Development, noemie.tokplen@giz.de

Additional information

More on the Game Changers – Women in Agriculture Award

About the sectoral project Sustainable Rural Areas