Gender and Women Development
In the history of ZFU, women have played an important role and have made a great contribution to the development of the Union. According to statistics, women constitute about 60 % of the Union's membership. The participation and involvement of women in ZFU activities is quite evident even at lower levels. Clubs and Association committees constitute of women as the majority and in these lower levels most leadership positions are held by women. It is very evident that women are a huge part of most of the activities planned at this level and this is important for ZFU because this is where the actual production takes place. Women therefore need to be capacitated for them to function effectively in the production process.
Gender Transformation-Sustainable development goal number 5 (gender equality )is one of goals that govern the day to day running of the Zimbabwe Farmers' Union considering the differentials in its membership .ZFU’s experiences in the area of gender transformation are showing that with programs and projects which are sensitive and best responsive to gendered vulnerabilities ,there is an increase in women participation in decision making ,strengthening women and youth groups and has reduced inequalities within the populace in the agriculture sector. ZFU’s partnership with WE effect has brought about notable changes where gender inequality is experienced in different ways depending on class, ethnicity, age, sexual identity etc., have largely been ignored. The ZFU Gender-transformative approaches have created opportunities for individuals to actively challenge existing gender norms, promote positions of social and political influence for women, and address power inequalities between persons of different genders. As result after every ear which is known to be ZFU electoral year there is increase of women taking up leadership position at all structures within ZFU.Through the ZFU gender policy in place, it gave birth to women and youth wing to enhance participation and decision-making power. More than 45% of women have managed to attain leadership position at all levels of the ZFU structures. ZFU have women members who sit at national and international boards and forums. This is necessitated by the presents of gender department which ensures gender mainstreaming is done at all levels.
Financial Inclusion- To meet credit constraints, women receive basic financial and savings education and training on how to access loans and negotiate with financial institutions. Groups of women save and lend together. Women usually suffer from lack of guarantees and credit history which constrain financial inclusion for most groups, the ZFU microfinance desk identifies financing needs and women’s ability to repay. Through ZFU microfinance desk, partnerships with banks i,e Zimbabwe Women Microfinance Bank,,Agribank and FBC etc has allowed groups to directly access bank loans on terms more advantageous to them. Further, with a combination of financial literacy training and linkages, women and youths farmers feel self-empowered, with many accessing formal banking services. Others are taking personal decisions on their savings either through informal savings groups or their bank account linked to their debit cards. Farmers, including women and young people, have formed marketing groups and are aggregating produce in collection centres, enabling them to negotiate prices and sell to large volume buyers although market linkages continue to require lobbying and improved strategies considering high production costs in Zimbabwe
Climate Justice- in agriculture, the adverse effects of climate impacts, pose serious threats to food security and nutrition, especially for small-scale women food producers who are at significant disadvantage. Women tend to be more dependent on the products of their local production systems for their food security, fuel and other products and services, and thus more vulnerable to the local-scale effects of climate change. They face widespread discrimination in the distribution of assets, services and information such as secure and adequate land, credit, training, employment opportunities, mobility, climate and market information services, inputs and technologies. ZFU implemented CTA project which was funded by SACAU which capacitated beneficiaries, to effectively use mobile technical applications for access to climate information to make informed production decisions. Total of 12730 farmers benefited with 6971 being women and 5759 being males. The project engaged a platform, ECOFARMER which is a mobile-based supply chain data system that connects farmers to markets.
Human rights- rights, duties, responsibilities and accountability mechanisms are promoted by developing the capacity of duty bearers to meet their obligation and of right holders to claim their rights. In the case of ZFU farmers and their communities are part of rights holder. They need to know their rights and be able to claim them. ZFU provides capacity building and negotiation skills to the farmers so that they should be able to participate in decision-making processes in a non-discriminatory and transparent manner. This is through platforms which include farmers forums, stakeholders consultative meetings ,inclusive policy dialogue sessions among others .In this regards Farmers despite of class, race ,sex,or ethnicity need to be aware of ways to claim their right to food, to an adequate standard of living, and to decent working conditions, among others women included ZFU lobby and advocate for State, the private sector, inter-governmental organizations and other duty bearers, to respect, fulfil and protect the human rights of the right holders.(farmers )
ZFU sits at National Employment Council (NEC)to lobby for Labour issues and wages as rights for every worker.
Vulnerable Communities -ZFU targets all farmers in Zimbabwe despite of categories, and location. When it comes to the lives of vulnerable rural communities, ZFU tries by all means to pay attention to diverse forms of marginalization and intersectionality, where gender inequality is experienced in different ways depending on age, class, ethnicity, or sexual identity, amongst other aspects to understand and respond to. Through ZFU structures and platforms farmers in remote areas have access to information and benefits of being represented by the ZFU.In remote areas where there is poor access to markets, ZFU facilitates organised inputs purchase and markets and negotiates for discount. Through the ZFU Eco farmer Combo project, despite farming tips decent burial was facilitated through funeral service component. This is assisting remote and marginalised communities. ZFU in partnership with UNICEF embarked in a project known as Fit for Life from 2015to 2020.This targeted vulnerable communities especially school dropouts.30634 youth benefited from basic education and vocational skills in farming of which 60% of the beneficiaries were female youths .Success stories and living testimonies have been documented .The experience implies that the ZFU pro-actively identified and prepared women for roles as community leaders, agricultural extensionists, farmer field school trainers and savings and loans agents.
Cotton Project-ZFU is implementing a sustainable cotton project which is targeting women and youth. Out of the current 12760 beneficiaries 8835 are women. Out of 120 demo sites 90 females hosted the demo sites. This is improving women capacity in cotton value chain, a cash crop which used to be dominated by men
Transforming Zimbabwe Dairy Value Chain(TranZDVC )- Under the TranZDVC project which aims to increase the milk production as well as increasing dairy head with special emphasis on women and youths’ participation in the dairy value chain, ZFU has the responsibility of mainstreaming youth and women participation through the gender and youth champion initiative with an idea of leaving no one behind in all agriculture value chains. To date ZFU identified and trained 352 youth champions and 414 gender champions. This is proving to be helpful and participation of women and youth has improved in the Dairy Value Chain and all other farming activities as well as them being sore beneficiary of the project schemes. Gender champions are preferably males for total inclusion.
ZFU engages in advocacy to promote both behavioural and structural change that supports women’s access to land and other means of production. It also enhances women’s access to finance by building stronger financial management and saving skills, and working on group relations to stimulate collective investment in agriculture and promote access to markets by improving women’s access to information on prices and on product demand.
While women are the doers of most of the agricultural activities that voices have remained consigned at local/household levels mostly. A situation is expected of the women to rise above operatives and become strategic. This is possible through ZFU strategies in empowering women farmers
STRATEGIES
- Training
- Leadership
- Lobbying and advocacy
- Policy formulation and analysis
- Negotiation
- Gender mainstreaming &HIV and AIDS
Exchange visits
- Look and learn (national, regional and international)
- Commemoration of National, Regional and International Women’s days and Events
- Documentation of success stories of women in leadership positions and publicize.
- Participation of women in dialogues and negotiations at various level
- Campaigns