Programmes run by the Woman Farmer Foundation strive to ensure capacitation and promotion of entrepreneurship amongst women and youth active in agriculture. Our programmes are inclined with food security, agribusiness management, gender mainstreaming, climate smart agricultural practices and climate resilience, good agricultural practices (Global Gap), market linkage facilitation, and more.
The Woman Farmer Foundation introduced an innovative tunnel production programme aimed at empowering female and male youths aged 18 – 35 with practical skills in growing and producing high-value crops while combating issues of climate change. Eligible participants to this 3-month long program gain both practical and theoretical skills, thus facilitating their path towards being viable Agri-Business owners through establishing their own climate smart agri-enterprises. This program aims at creating job & agri-business opportunities for Eswatini youth who form 60% of the country’s population and face high unemployment rates. The program is run at the foundation’s training center throughout the year in intervals announced on our social media pages.
This project recognizes the essential roles women play in the agricultural sector and therefore strengthens the participation and involvement of 80 women farmers across all four regions in Eswatini, in decision making that directly affects them in the farming sector, as well as building their knowledge, confidence, skills and access to and control over resources. Sustainable Development Goal 5 aims to ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life. Woman Farmer Foundation does not treat women farmers as a homogenous group but acknowledges their socioeconomic and cultural differences through gender mainstreaming for inclusive, intersectional programming. Through capacity building women are equipped with information and specialized technical skills to ensure their productive time can be spent on income generation through targeted training in farming and farming value chain.The overarching goal of the project is to enhance women farmers’ participation in the agricultural sector (value chain) through entry into markets by linking them with existing business. The project was initially funded by the Local Fund for Local Initiatives. Seeing the tremendous success, the program was revamped and relaunched with support from the government of New Zealand.
Woman Farmer Foundation, funded by the International Trade Centre (ITC) is involved with training 2 cooperatives in the Ntfonjeni area, Hhohho region. The over 100 farmers receive training on agribusiness management skills, cooperative governance and compliance skills and the relevant global standards one must comply with to produce optimum quality products. The trainers were also introduced to value addition and food processing methods to increase their income while reducing waste. Upon completion of the training, farmers are given inputs, including shade nets for greater climate resilience, in order to put their newly gained knowledge into practice. Extension services are offered to augment the support provided by the government. This also provides an opportunity to evaluate the efficacy of the training sessions- gaging farmers’ ability to implement. The foundation looks forward to carrying this project forward for 5 years, beginning in 2022- working closely with the community to continuously assess and improve the support provided by the organisation.
The project tackles the root cause of gender inequality which is unequal control of resources and decision making. By enhancing access to climate smart technologies for women and youth (50% women, 50% female youth), greater opportunities for food production and entrepreneurship are provided to them, thereby increasing their incomes and thus resilience and active participation in decision making. This project builds capacity of women and girls, thereby reducing the burden on them so that their productive time can be spent on income generation through targeted training in farming and farming value chain, the project strengthens the participation and involvement of youth and women farmers in decision making that directly affect them, as well as to build their knowledge, confidence, skills and access to and control over resources. Through the program, the foundation aims to ensure women and female youth are engaged, and their voices heard, and opinions considered at different levels of decision making that directly or indirectly affect them. This program is made possible by the wonderful support of the Karen Takacs Women Leadership Fund, an opportunity afforded
With the support of the GEF Small Grants Program, the foundation aims to revive a community apiary to be managed and maintained by Adult and Youth Primary Beekeepers at Macudvulwini Community in Ngwempisi Constituency in the Manzini region. Initial participants comprise of 10 youth (6 female and 4 males: aged 18 to 35 years) and 10 Adults (2 female and 8 male) who are prioritized according to two thematic areas: protecting biodiversity and economic improvement initiatives and climate adaptation and resilience programs. The identified beneficiaries are involved in beekeeping at household level, since the community apiary site was vandalized and farmers were keen to revive their beekeeping cooperative. Gender equality awareness workshops are used to sensitize beneficiaries about gender mainstreaming particularly to increase the participation of women in bee husbandry. The project aims at improving rural livelihoods, food security, income and strengthening environmental protection through the honey value chain project. It contributes to the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of eSwatini, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and acknowledges the importance of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) No. 15 which cascade to SDG 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 13.
Issues of inequality are never gender neutral. Meaning, in all we do, it is important to apply a gender lense. In our efforts to empower women and female youth in a gender sensitive manner, the foundation entered into a 5-year partnership with Crossroads International for organizational strengthening, including the creation of gender policies and staff training. This initiative has given WFF a stronger base to address gender issues both internally and externally.
