AGRICULTURAL NEWS - Southern Africa has suffered through one of the worst droughts in decades and now small farmers face a long hungry season with growing food aid needs until the next harvest.
Given the growing uncertainty of rainfall in this region, many are turning to irrigation as a key strategy for securing future harvests. The problem, however, is that male and female farmers have deeply unequal rights to critical resources, including water. Uneven access to water also complicates assumptions about the ability of commercial farming to deliver household food security in the African context.
The 2015-16 drought was the worst to hit Southern Africa in 35 years, leaving an estimated 32 million people in the region food insecure. This hunger will only deepen until March 2017 when new harvests normally arrive.
Not all women farmers are equal
While women grow the majority of food in this region, public programmes and policies are skewed towards providing water for male livelihood activities. This bias undermines female farmers' ability to adapt to climate change and weakens the food security of the region.
In the semi-arid, Southern African country of Botswana, women rely heavily on irrigation to grow vegetables during the long dry season. These crops are produced for home consumption and to generate needed income. While the government has provided much-needed support for this activity in recent years, they have been disappointed with the results, even considering it an utter failure in some cases.
What these appraisals overlook is the critical role that water access plays in the success of a women's vegetable production operation and the overall way in which women's farming activities are marginalised in the country.
In fact, differences in water access among female vegetable farmers in Botswana had a huge influence on whether or not commercial horticulture helps improve household food security.
