Rural women play an essential role in the fight against hunger. On the African continent alone, women constitute almost 70% of the total agricultural force and produce about 90% of the food.
We know that if they had the same resources as men, the agricultural yield of developing countries would increase by a third, from 2.5 to 4%. In practice, if women were better trained in agricultural techniques and good farming practices, and had the same funding and access to land, equipment and markets as men… we could feed up to 150 million more people!
We provide women with means through local initiatives.
In India, Under the Mango Tree Society trains 550 smallholder women farmers in bee-keeping while providing kitchen gardens to increase the number of bees, pollination, food production, and average household income in the districts of Palghar-Maharashtra and Valsad-Gujarat, western India. Stop Hunger and its founding partner Sodexo collaborated with UTMT to distribute seeds, saplings and biofertilizer, thus diversifying the gardens of these women in 7 villages of the district. Better pollination has improved harvests, and the surpluses are sold in local markets.
In Mozambique, the MP OMATANI association works with small farmers to process and distribute fair-trade and highly nutritious local peanut butter. This cheap protein supplement is sold in packets of 20 grams in markets and with organizations like the World Food Programme. MP OMATANI wants to support the work of rural women, help educate young girls, and give families the means to send their kids to high school. The Stop Hunger grant is helping to cover first year operational costs, equipment, and lab tests to process, pack, and test peanut butter in its commercialization.