Zanzibar — Four United Nations agencies have launched a joint programme to protect rural women's livelihoods, rights, and resilience in order to advance sustainable development.
The five-year programme dubbed Joint Programme on accelerating progress towards Rural Women's Economic Empowerment (JP RWEE) worth 5 million US dollars (equivalent to 11.6bn/-) is funded by Norway and Sweden.
Jointly implemented by the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality (UN Women) and the World Food Programme (WFP) it adopts a holistic approach to rural women's economic empowerment, building on each agency's comparative advantage and strengths to improve the status of women in rural areas.
Over 8,000 rural women in Singida, Dodoma, and Zanzibar are expected to benefit from the project, which will help them secure their livelihoods in the agricultural sector through resilience.
Speaking at the launch, Zanzibar Minister of Blue Economy and Fisheries Suleiman Masoud Makame said gender equality was crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
"Tanzania recognises this and has adopted policies that advance gender equality. The government recognise and appreciate the continued partnership by the UN in Tanzania to support our efforts towards advancing gender equality, especially in the agriculture sector, this joint programme is a demonstration of this continued support," he said
Among other things, the programme will build women's capacity on climate-smart agriculture to respond to climate crisis challenges, which disproportionately affect women due to their reduced access to agricultural resources, lack of decision-making authority and weak adaptation strategies.
Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director for UN Women said as in most rural communities around the world, women in Tanzania have limited access to land, credit, as well as inputs, technology and services needed for a strong engagement in the agricultural sector.
"The Covid-19 pandemic also impacted the agricultural sector and local food systems through restricted market access and increased costs of inputs.
"The project will provide business development, leadership training and access to markets for self-help groups by supporting existing and new Village Savings and Loans Associations to become officially registered and access financing," said Ms Bahous.
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WFP Country Director and Representative, Sarah Gordon-Gibson said the project is aligned with the Zanzibar Development Plan, the National Five-Year Development Plan in Tanzania Mainland, the Blue Economy Policy 2022, the Financial Inclusion Framework II and the Agricultural Sector Development Plan II.
"The project we launched today is part of the United Nations' commitment to supporting national efforts towards a people's centred development, with a special focus on rural women," she said.
Ms Gibson said rural women are the main producers and actors in the agriculture value chain that ensures food and nutrition security for all, despite the challenges they continue facing in terms of access to land and inputs, low productivity and skills, unpaid work and limited social protection.
The project in Tanzania is part of the second phase of a global programme also being implemented in Nepal, Niger, the Pacific Islands and Tunisia. The first phase of the programme was launched in 2014-2021 in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Nepal, Niger and Rwanda it reached approximately 80 000 rural women.
