If empowered appropriately, women
hold the key to improving food and nutrition in Zambia. According to the Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) women constitute 64% of the rural population
in Zambia, and 80% of food producers.
The food sovereignty and plant
genetic resources (PGRs) of a country is in the hands of women because of the
role they play in the home primarily as ‘head chef’ and nutritionist. PGRs are an
important component of agricultural biodiversity and are the foundation upon
which food security rests.
Mr. Masiye Tembo from the National
Plant Genetic Resource Centre (NPGRC)
located at the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute(ZARI), defines PGRs as the
raw material that are used in modern
plant breeding which enables plant breeders to develop varieties that adapt to
different environments and respond to emerging changes such as climate change.
“The success of the transformation
agenda of the agricultural sector to play its role as one of the key drivers of
economic growth is primarily dependent on how well plant genetic resources are
managed and utilized,” Mr. Tembo said.
PGRs consist of a diversity of
genetic material contained in traditional varieties and modern cultivars grown
by farmers
as well as wild plant species that can be used as food, medicine fodder,
forages, essential oils and fibres among many other uses.
A public lecture was held on the 19th of March to
highlight and celebrate the role that women play in conserving PGRs more
especially in a time when changes in food preferences and climate change are threatening
these resources.
The lecture was sponsored and facilitated by the SADC Plant
Genetic Resources Centre (SPGRC) and attracted participants from different
agricultural institutions.
In his opening remarks, Senior Programmes Officer for SPGRC,
Mr. Justify Shava explained that the SPGRC was established out of a need to
address various threats to the agricultural sector which included climate change,
changes in food preferences and extensive capital developments which involved
land clearance. Such threats are threatening the diversity of PGRs more
especially in Africa and Asia.
“When a natural
disaster comes, you’ll find that there are some organisms that will survive and
others that die. It’s because of variation. We have different capacities to
withstand different pressures. In the same way, plants have different
capacities to withstand different pressures…and these differences [are] due to
inherent differences in different living organisms. So when we look after these
different species, we are just trying to create some adaptation,” he said.
The SPGRC was established in 1989 to enhance food security
and poverty reduction, by promoting the conservation and sustainable use of
plant genetic resources (PGRs). Mr. Shava said that the SPGRC programme
involved in collecting, conserve and making available PGRs using modern methods
so as to contribute to the sustainable development of the environment and food
security of the SADC region.
SPGRC programmes include: in-situ conservation which entail
that conservation is down on the farms of farmers. These include field gene
banks and community seed banks. The second programme is the ex-situ
conservation which involves the management of regional gene banks and;
germplasm handling and storage. Finally there is the aspect documentation and
information which entails the development, installation, updating and
monitoring of PGR databases.
As complex as their work sounds, SPGRC recognizes that small
scale farmers – particularly women – play an important role in enhancing the
success of the work of the SPGRC.
In a presentation made on behalf of Participatory Ecological
Land Use Management (PELUM), Mr. Wilfred Miga - who is PELUM’s Agricultural and
Rural Development Officer – broke down the different roles that women are
playing in the conservation of Plant Genetic Resources (PGRs).
“Women are often responsible for ensuring household food
security and family health although their roles their roles vary in different
contexts. They often have greater knowledge and a more diversified perspective
on PGR than men because they are responsible for producing and procuring a large
number of plant resources and; for storing and transforming plants to meet
household needs,” Mr. Miga said.
He added that data reveals that most wild plants are
gathered and used by women for many purposes.
To begin with, the first role that women play in the
conservation of PGRs is the role of the cook.
The woman is naturally inclined to be concerned with whether the members of her
household have eaten a meal and the nutritional content of that meal. Mr. Miga
describes women as the “gate-keepers of food” that is in and outside of the
home. In the rural set up, this entails that she is also concerned with what
kinds of crops are grown and what seed is used to grow them. This translates
into her second role as the gardner. Home
gardening is one of the oldest cultivation systems which usually have a
diversity of plant species and ecological complexity compared to cultivated
fields.
A third role that women play in conserving PGRs is that of
the herbalist. Though most people are
biased towards processed pharmaceuticals, there are still many who prefer
natural plant medicine which are seen as a pathway to halt the spread of
various human diseases. Women tend to experiment more with medicinal plants and;
their interest and work with such plants is critical to health care as well as
genetic conservation.
Another role that women play is that of seed custodian. Most recognized seed custodians are large
multinational corporations which manage gene banks and the world’s agriculture
is dependent on them. However, a large amount of the germplasm that they rely
on for their seed production is largely in the hands of small scale farmers. The
plants and seed they depend on is in the hands of women. Informal seed exchange
systems are in the hands of women who thoroughly select the seed to be
replanted apart from the seed that is meant for food among other things. In
some cultures, seed is even given as gifts during various ceremonies.
Finally, the woman plays the role of plant breeder. Women generally have a broader set of seed selection
criteria as compared to men. They take into account production, processing,
storage, preservation and culinary qualities because they are attuned to the
food and nutrition security of the household. According to Mr. Miga, research
has revealed that female headed households produce more seed varieties than
women living in male-headed households. He believes that their ability to breed
could be further enhanced if women were given access and allowed to participate
more in plant breeding programmes.
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