A paper, a signature, a seal. A document that certifies that the land on which women work belongs to them so that they can make decisions about how to manage it, access support and training, and achieve autonomy. Women own less than 15% of the world’s agricultural land, although they represent almost half of the agricultural workforce, and produce up to 80% of the food in developing countries affected by desertification, land degradation and drought, the UN reports. And in December, women took a stand to reverse the inertia. This is the first time that a caucus (assembly) gender is on the official agenda of the annual review committee of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which was held last December in Panama.
In Spain, situations have arisen that highlight the importance of these demands. Andalusia accumulated high illiteracy rates due to land management with large estates, which kept rural populations illiterate. It is not the same in the northern regions, where small farms allow women and men to learn to write and do calculations in order to trade. Transferred to the current training, the summary of caucus details that more training and better access to productive resources, land, credit, training and technology are needed for women. “It is requested to strengthen regional cooperation to facilitate the exchange of solutions and contribute to closing the gaps in access to resources and opportunities”, indicates the text, in addition to highlighting the lack of separate data. What we know is that in around a hundred countries, women are denied the right to land by virtue of customary, religious or traditional laws and practices.
“Now the caucus This is an essential part of the agenda and we can hear the representative voices of those who make the connection between land ownership and women’s rights, which is what we should continue to explore the most and which is a priority for Spain. We cannot make decisions on desertification, land degradation and drought (DDTS) if we leave aside 50% of the population,” says María Medina, head of the desertification service of the Ministry of Ecological Transition of Spain and the country’s delegate to this meeting, in which 196 states and the EU are participating. (COP17), which takes place in August in Mongolia.
“Even if we do not always have access to the land, we work on it, restore it and fight. Having the land guarantees us to participate in the process of protecting conservation and natural resources”, illustrates Aulina Ismare, leader of the Wounaan indigenous community in Panama and participant in the caucus. In the summary document of the assembly It reads: “Some parties reiterated that women, particularly those from indigenous peoples and local communities, play a fundamental role in sustainable land management, food security and the administration of natural resources (…). »
But despite women’s contributions, the text emphasizes that they continue to be among the most affected by DDTS. “They face limited access to quality land, persistent land insecurity, increased vulnerability to DDTS, and a disproportionate burden in restoring degraded ecosystems,” the summary says. Quality land is essential. The UN estimates that up to 40% of soils are already degraded because their properties have been destroyed for centuries due to fertilizers, toxins, poor management…
“Women are still primarily responsible for growing crops intended to feed the home and family. And they tend to choose legumes, which fertilize the soil. Men tend to prefer cash crops, such as cotton,” emphasizes Jes Weigelt, program manager at the association. think tank TMG. Your entity, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Global Environment Facility, among others, launched the project in Panama. Addressing land governance and gender equality in land rights to strengthen land degradation neutrality initiatives.
Because to fulfill this role, tedious administrative procedures supported by laws and cultural changes are necessary that modify inheritance traditions and discriminatory policies. Weigelt explains the aim of the project: “For example, in Germany there is one ministry that deals with one thing, and another with another. The challenge is to get those in charge of agriculture, gender or the environment to work together, because they generally don’t talk to each other. We want them to come together to focus on strengthening women’s land rights.
Paraguay is one of the countries that participated in the pilot phase of this project and the director of biodiversity of its Ministry of the Environment, Darío Mandelburger, describes it as a “success”. In their case, they linked three ministries. “It is important that women feel masters of the land, appropriate, owners. They bring about changes not only in the family, but also in production, in commerce, in land management, in education. And we also detect that this is important against gender violence,” she says. The data supports the thesis: a study collected by the UN concludes that women who own land are up to eight times less likely to experience domestic violence.
“Owning the land gives you freedom of decision without constraints. You have the power to cultivate what you prefer,” explains Rokiatu Traoré, founder of the Malian social enterprise Herou Alliance. He says he bought nine hectares from an owner after completing the procedures and payments to the owner, the municipality, the mayor and the governor of the region. “This document goes to the Ministry of Lands to legalize it. And then the engineers will study the conditions of the land and obtain the title,” he explains.
Traoré says he has prioritized planting nutritious moringa to restore land, feed the population and promote employment for women and youth. “We transform it to make tea, oil, powder, honey, soap, spices… and we market it in Germany, France, Italy, Senegal, Niger…”, he illustrates in Panama, where he gave several conferences. It also shows how climate change complicates the profession in the Sahel, where the carbon dioxide that warms the earth is barely emitted, and calls for research to find solutions. “One year we had droughts and the other year we had floods. We lost a lot, but we must never stop,” he encourages.
Indigenous leader Ismare, who also shares the benefits of collective ownership for community management, also calls for the responsibility of governments to keep multinationals and mining companies out of their environment. “It’s not the State that takes care of rivers on a daily basis. Those of us who are there do it,” he illustrates. With a courageous attitude in front of the microphone, he claims more presence in political decisions. “Entering these UN spaces is not easy, and I bring many voices here that are not generally heard,” he assumes. As an allegory, the Panamanian Rubén Blades already said with Willie Colón in the song Sowing: “And face your land and so change will come. » They put a face to their rights behind the paper, the signature, the seal and the voice to make it so.
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