Women fight for land, property rights Ms Veronica Ngwerume

Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter

WOMEN groups across Africa have called for regional integration and mainstreaming of gender in socio-economic activities to capacitate vulnerable grassroots women and girls on the continent.

Some women suffer abuse in land and inheritance disputes and are segregated from leadership positions.  Those living in rural areas in particular, bear the burden of the adverse impact of climate change while practising subsistence farming for their families but are disempowered after the death of their husbands.

Patriarchal inheritance laws and improper land ownership patterns where women have no land rights have reportedly perpetually disadvantaged them thereby impoverishing many of them across the continent.

Women groups now want to build social protection and resilience through empowerment programmes.

Some grassroots women came together and formed Women Land Link Africa (WLLA) about 15 years ago as a platform for sharing ideas, leveraging opportunities and raising advocacy to help victims especially those evicted or disinherited after the death of a spouse.

For 10 years, WLLA had become dormant due to lack of funding.

However, the initiative has been revived and recently, a Joint Regional Assembly and Women Land Link Africa meeting of representatives of grassroots women organisations from across Africa was held in Victoria Falls.

New York based Huairou Commission co-organised the meeting with Ntengwe For Community Development which operates in Binga, Hwange and Lupane districts in Matabeleland North province and Africa Women’s Development Fund (AWDF).

Participants implored African governments to give women access to land to end poverty, fight gender-based violence and mitigate against climate change which affects women more than men.

Huairou Commission chair Ms Violet Shivutse said land is key to women empowerment.

She said a big number of women still have no access or control of land yet they have a huge task of bringing food to the table. 

“An African woman relies on land to bring food including educating the family and failure to give them access to land has continued to bring poverty among women,” said Ms Shivutse who is a caregiver and founder of Kenya’s Chibuye Community Health Workers.

Ms Shivutse said economic activities such as mining, agriculture and tourism among others encroach into communities resulting in women getting disempowered.

“This is not about power but to enhance nutrition and resilience and be able to engage women effectively. The value of land is depreciating because of climate change hence we want women to use different innovations to address climate change and come up with mitigation and adaptation practices,” she highlighted.

“That’s why we’re bringing together grassroots women who are struggling with land issues and are disinherited because of HIV and Aids so we share knowledge. We still have a big number of women not accessing land and we want solutions. 

“Our position is that we have to support and promote women control of land and also protect their land rights which can be done with the help of governments.”

Ms Shivutse’s sentiments augur well with the Government’s stance on empowerment of citizens towards an upper middle economy by 2030.

She said while some governments supported women’s initiatives, bureaucracy remains a challenge.

She challenged organisations to work with local authorities, gender commissions, traditional leaders, civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations to be able to break through to Government.

“Grassroots women are not accessing funding. We have priorities for Africa and we need to amplify our voices hence we call for an integrated Africa,” she said.

Ntengwe programmes coordinator Mr Innocent Isaac said his organisation has been working on a programme called “Pathways to economic justice for women’s land rights” to advance women rights to land and property. 

He said the programme is aimed at safeguarding women rights so they can jointly own land with their spouses.

“Land ownership patterns in Zimbabwe are skewed towards men and culturally there are no problems with that as even women feel they have access through men yet they can also own land through joint ownership and partnerships.

“If women have no collateral to land, they can’t invest in any form of economic activity hence we’re saying access to land gives them leverage to enter the market and be able to get finances,” said Mr Isaac.

He said most women are powerless hence face domestic violence challenges.

“Climate change is one of the challenges faced by women. Their key roles are around access to water for the family which many struggle to get. Our economy is based on agriculture which is being affected by climate change hence we want to ensure that women are empowered in that regard,” he said.

Most women end up victims of domestic violence.

Director for Survivors in Action in Zimbabwe, formerly Ray of Hope which operates in Chitungwiza and Manyame districts, Mrs Clara Makwara said lack of education also fuels women disempowerment.

“We help sensitise grassroots women that are affected by domestic violence and empower them to know their rights. We have established that lack of education leads to continuous violence. We did a baseline survey and found out that only five percent of women know their rights to property and inheritance as many can’t fight for their land, livestock or house. Those who said they knew their rights were only talking about the right to vote,” she said.

Director of Seke Rural Home Based Care Ms Veronica Ngwerume encouraged communities to respect widows.

“We formed the organisation in 2001 to help people living with HIV and Aids after realising that accessing ART was a challenge. A lot of widows were being sent packing after the death of their spouses. 

“We started helping women write wills with the help of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). We trained caregivers and paralegals for each village and partnered Zimbabwe Women Lawyers’ Association and we are happy that the whole community now respects widowed women,” she said. 

She said her organisation is helping women mitigate climate change through nutritional gardens. 

Various women’s groups in different countries have called for integration of activities across Africa though initiatives that empower grassroots women.

Land Access Movement of South Africa (LAMSA) acting director Ms Emily Tjale said women should be given an opportunity to fully participate in decision making.

She said in South Africa they had come up with a “one-hectare-one-woman” campaign to capacitate women with land, housing, property and inheritance rights to be able to sustain themselves.

“We should lobby for partners and Government to give influence to policy making for women to be part of decision making so they have sustainable livelihoods,” said Ms Tjale. 

Ms Getrude Nalubinga of the Uganda Community Based Association for Women and Children Welfare said improving the welfare of rural women helps build resilience and raise awareness across the continent.

She urged women organisations to be apolitical but focus on raising capacity building for vulnerable groups.

Kenya Winam Grassroots team leader Ms Mary Were bemoaned lack of government support for climate change and disaster management. 

“There’s a gap hence women need to be empowered to change livelihoods and enhance local knowledge. 

“Women want positions on land issues to be productive,” she said. 

Ms Fati Alhassan, director for Grassroots Sisterhood Foundation in Ghana said in her country, women who resist patriarchy suffer abuse or are banished.

“We started working around women land rights and realised it was an issue of economic empowerment as men took advantage of patriarchy to disempower women. There is a need to build support systems for victims of domestic violence across board,” she said. 

Ninety percent of women lack access to land, said Rural Women Federation of Madagascar chair, Mrs Lilia Ravoniarisoa. 

She emphasised the need for climate change sensitisation, training on land rights, advocacy, solar energy and tree planting initiatives.

WLLA’s vision is to empower grassroots women and build resilience through community projects. The idea was born during the Beijing Conference in 1995. @ncubeleon

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