Meet the charity helping African woman farmers:
Mary Jackson is a a farmer from the village of Chipolomba in Malawi.
Due to poverty she struggled to feed her family. She said
"I would work in other people’s fields to earn money for food, which meant I couldn’t work in my own field.
The children had to go to bed on empty stomachs.
It was hard to keep them in schools when they were hungry and they often missed lessons.
Growing my own crops was difficult - I couldn't rely on the rain falling to water them.
Sometimes the rain was too heavy, sometimes it doesn't fall at all.
Climate change has made growing crops harder." (Source: WEE BOX)
But thanks to the charity WEE BOX, Mary is now able to feed her family and send them to school.
We spoke SCIAF's Val Morgan on why the WEE BOX is helping woman farmers in Africa.
“Challenging inequality is a key part of our WEE BOX Lent appeal.
It tells of our work helping women to grow more food and earn an income.
Half of the world’s food is currently grown by small-scale farmers, and up to 80% of these are women.
Yet their harvests are up to 30% smaller than those of men, who get better tools, seeds, farm equipment and training.
At the same time, the majority of people suffering from hunger are women.
Research by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has shown that by giving small-scale women farmers an equal share of necessities such as good seeds and training, developing countries could grow around 30% more food.
This alone would lift a staggering 150 million people out of extreme poverty."
The charity offered Mary and other woman like her training in new ways of farming, farm supplies and seeds, the chance to borrow money to stary her own small business and create a better life for her family.
For more information about the WEE BOX and it's charity work go to:
http://www.sciaf.org.uk/
Source: WEE BOX
Photographer: Thomas Omondi
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