International Day of Rural Women – October 15th
guest | October 15th, 2012 in : Africa, Central America, cross-cultural differences, days of significance, East Asia, General, Russia/Asia, South America, South Asia, The Middle East/Arab World
It is estimated that 60% of chronically hungry people are women and girls. Today is International Day of Rural Women, a day that recognizes the vital role of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.
60% of chronically hungry people are women.
The day is purposefully held a day before World Food Day in order to highlight the role rural women play in food production.
The International Day of Rural Women was first observed at a significant time in October 2008. 2006, 2007, and 2008 were the years of the global food crisis when prices of staple foods rose dramatically around the world. Although prices declined slightly right afterwards they spiked again in 2010 and have been high since. UN Women Watch writes that food prices are “likely to remain high and volatile over the next decade.”
Poor rural households feel the global crises the hardest. The poorer the household the more its members have to change the way they live to cope with the crises. Many families have to cut down the number of times they eat per day, they will have to eat smaller portions, and they will often eat cheaper, less nutritious food. Since rural women are traditionally the food providers and carers of the household they often give food to their children and husbands first, and therefore sometimes go hungry themselves. Many women will also have to work longer hours, or take on another job, in order to afford food.
UN WomenWatch quotes Salome Nche, a mother of eight from Cameroon: “Prices of food have really gone up and this has made my children and I not to eat as we used to. We used to eat four times a day but now we can only eat two times under hard struggle.”
Tags: food crisis, poverty, rural women, UN, womenwatch
Hello, I'm Deborah Swallow and, for the last fifteen years, I've worked in over thirty countries addressing the complexities of people working internationally across multiple cultures, so individuals and organisations alike can gain an authentic competitive edge and win in international markets. 