About FAO News Multimedia Main topics Statistics Members Publications

Gender

Building leadership: the rural women of FAO-Dimitra

Since 2006, Dimitra Clubs have played a crucial role in strengthening rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa, with a special focus on women’s empowerment.

30/05/2016

A new video, produced by Esprit Libre and FAO-Dimitra, takes a look at how these clubs enable rural women to step up and realize their potential.

From good practices in crop farming and post-harvest processing to medical care for their communities, the video “FAO-Dimitra Clubs: Women Leaders” illustrates how rural women are forging paths towards greater food security, nutrition, health and better livelihoods, not only for themselves but for those around them.

The FAO-Dimitra Project centres on a highly successful gender-transformative approach developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). FAO-Dimitra Clubs are made up of groups of rural women and men who decide to meet regularly to discuss the challenges they face in their daily lives, make decisions together and take collective action to solve community problems with their own means. Since 2006, 1500 FAO-Dimitra Clubs have been set up in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, the Niger and Senegal.

“I work like men”

Among the women featured in the video, Marguerite Atilomoi, a woman farmer from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is a typical example. Marguerite, who goes by her nickname ‘Maguy,’ is the moderator of a Dimitra Club in the village of Yanonge, some 60 km from Kisangani, in the country’s northeastern Tshopo province. As one of the first women to get involved in the clubs’ approach, Maguy also supports the activities of around 15 other clubs in her area, visiting them weekly to give advice and help members move forward. In addition, she is both president of the local agricultural producer organization and vice-president of the Union of Producer Organizations of Yanonge.

All this is a long way from where – and how – this determined young woman started out. “I was born in Lokomba, five km from central Yanonge. That is where I spent my childhood. After completing the fifth year of secondary school at the Agricultural Technical Institute of Yanonge, I abandoned my studies to go and live with my boyfriend, who later became my hus­band. Very soon, I was expecting my first child, in 2008. Also very soon, I realized that I had made a mistake in abandoning my studies and I began asking my husband to help me finish my secondary education. Since he refused to pay my school fees, and was against me taking up my studies again, I left him for a while and returned to my family home, with the bless­ing of my parents and encouraged by my older brother. I obtained my state diploma at the end of the school year 2010–2011 and went on to become an agriculture instructor. In the end, I went back to my husband and today I am the mother of two children.”

Maguy is also, of course, a farmer. She makes a living by farming groundnuts, palm nuts, and a local vegetable called niébé (a kind of cowpea). This is a demanding activity, but she still finds time to continue learning. “I’m taking courses at an agricultural technical school,” she says proudly. “I am an agronomist, I work like men. So I have made up the term ‘agrowoman.’ In my field I respect the spacing and the specific crop conditions. This makes the difference between my field and most of the others.”

Maguy knows there are still challenges to face. “My major concern is that society should acknowledge the contribu­tion made by women to the daily life of house­holds and communities. When I talk about society, I mean men, but also women them­selves, who underestimate their knowledge and their power.”

But she feels strongly about the good work done through the Dimitra Clubs. “The listeners’ clubs take action and don’t make empty promises,” she says. 

“I have been able to motivate everyone”

Not far to the west, in the village of Itenge, Myriam Bogadi would surely agree. “I am not paid,” says Myriam of her work as moderator of a Dimitra Club. “But I am learning so many other things thanks to the experiences that are shared in the clubs. It helps me to move forward in my life.”

At first, Myriam simply participated in the Dimitra Club meetings, discussing the problems of the village, working to find solutions, and joining in on collective action as did other members. But over time, she became more involved in mobilizing her community, and everyone recognized her potential. She quickly became moderator of the club. “Since I have been a moderator, we have restored the club’s meeting place,” she says, adding confidently that “I have been able to motivate everyone.”

Myriam is particularly proud of her idea to support the village health centre. Built in 2003, the original health centre was in such a crumbling state that it had to shut down. But through the efforts of the Dimitra Club, it has since been reopened. A nurse has been appointed, and the club members contribute to its medicine supply. As a result, sick people and pregnant women no longer have to endure long walks or spend hours on the back of a bicycle to reach the nearest hospital. 

Words into action

The video also takes us to rural Niger, where Dimitra clubs have been operating since 2009. We meet Souweyba Idé, from the village of Gasseda, in the country’s southwest. As a club moderator, Souweyba was able to realize her potential and play a key role in her community: she was at the forefront of an important proposal developed through the clubs — a proposal that was convincing enough to win the village a multifunctional platform from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

A multifunctional platform, or MFP, consists of a chassis onto which a simple, robust motor is mounted. This is fitted with a generator that supplies mechanical and electrical energy to various pieces of equipment, such as a huller, grain mill and battery charger. The platform can power other tools, such as a grinder or a welding unit, and it can provide enough energy to power the electrical network of a village.

Back in 2011, when the FAO-Dimitra team visited Gasseda, the women spoke of their difficulties in translating words into action. But as Souweyba explains, much has changed. “Thanks to the clubs, we can introduce ourselves as a structured group, and because of this we were shortlisted and granted the platform. We have learned to think about what we want – to defend our ideas and convince our partners.”

“Before the Dimitra Clubs were created, I wasn’t aware of my own ability to structure my thoughts and talk,” says Djamila Hassane, who moderates another of Gasseda’s Dimitra Clubs. “I didn’t have the self-confidence to sit with my husband and raise issues that are important to me. But now I often share with him knowledge acquired in the club.”

Hamsa Makido, who is treasurer to the management committee for the multifunctional platform, agreed that it was “thanks to the listeners’ club that we were able to get this machine. The listeners’ club changed us, and it is because they [UNDP project staff] saw that we were motivated that they gave us the machine.” 

“Now we are no longer ashamed”

Today, Gasseda’s platform is used to peel, grind and crush the villagers’ grain mechanically, as well as to provide electricity for the community. Its impact has been particularly important for the women, as the huller and grain mill save them a significant amount of time and labour. This extra time was soon put to good use, however. The women managed to obtain land in the village of Gourou, which they then set up for vegetable gardening. Each day some of the women travel the two kilometers to Gourou to water and care for the land; the vegetables they grow are consumed at home or sold for income. Even the youngest girls benefit from the new platform – now that they no longer have to pound millet, they have more time for their education.

“Before the machine arrived, our hands had calluses. Now they are smooth. Before, we never had time to do anything else. Now, we practise horticulture, and I leave each morning to water my plants. Now, all the women practise horticulture. Before, we used to spend all our time preparing meals,” said Sofi Sidikou, one of the women in charge of the platform. “The machine has greatly improved our lives and now we are no longer ashamed to show our hands when we speak,” she added, laughing.

 

Links