Women from 69 districts engaged in cassava and millet growing are set to benefit from an African Union (AU) programme targeting those from rural areas.

The Empower Women in Agriculture programme aims at promoting inclusive and sustainable agricultural trade and value chains.

Once rolled out, Uganda will become the 10th nation in Africa to benefit from the programme. Other beneficiary countries are Liberia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Malawi, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire, among others.

Ms Ritah Kabanyoro, the country director of Action Against Hunger, said Africa is an agricultural continent and the sector employs more than 70 percent of the population, many of whom are women benefiting from farming.

“We want women to be known for growing cassava and millet. We are driving a value chain that ensures women participate in the money economy, not just staying in the garden and kitchen,” she said during the launch of the programme in Kampala last Friday. 

She added: “We have managed to get over 2,000 acres donated by landlords, which we are giving to farmers as part of the initiative. We have grouped and scaled out their production, trained them, and provided them with startups.”

Ms Maureen Wagubi, the chief executive officer of the Institute for Social Transformation, a human rights organisation, said the programme has been tested in various countries and has been successful.

“We are focusing on organising women farmers on a value chain we have identified, which is cassava and millet, and we are going to focus on the last-mile woman,” Ms Wagubi said.

She added: “Building their capacities in line with modern technologies will facilitate their production and market. We are looking at the African level, where we have the African Continental Free Trade Area, and we want the women to use these spaces and add value to their products.”

Ms Wagubi said the programme will also focus on organising women through the formation of cooperatives, adding that it is going to be a countrywide programme based on regions. 

The Empower Women in Agriculture project initiatives include capacity strengthening of rural grassroot women smallholder farmers in leadership, advocacy, and lobbying for women’s land rights, resilient agribusiness, value addition, financial literacy, and grassroots women-led movement building. 

Other initiatives are gender audits, action research, and evidence-based advocacy with key stakeholders.