Against all odds, women are defying convention and spearheading a groundbreaking revolution in the feed and fodder sector- which has for long been male-dominated.
With tenacity and innovation, a group of women from across Africa are breathing new life into the feed and fodder sector as well as livestock production and reshaping the course of their communities’ and countries’ economic future.
The sector is currently facing a major crisis due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, global COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
In the shadows of these challenges and adversities, some women are emerging as catalysts of change in the crucial feed and fodder sector.
Some of the women playing a crucial role in the sector are at the ongoing African Union-InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) workshop in Kenya- where a high-level discussion on how to cushion member states and empower women is ongoing.
AU-IBAR has initiated an ambitious project dubbed Resilient African Feed and Fodder Systems (RAFFS) project, to help targeted African countries overcome the challenge.
Among the experts attending the five-day workshop is Prof. Sonia Bedhiaf-Romdhani from Tunisia.
She is the Continental President for Africa Women in Animal Resources Farming and Agribusiness Network (AWARFA-N) and a Senior Researcher in Animal Breeding in Tunisia.
She is among experts rooting for more involvement of women in the feed and fodder sector by providing an enabling environment and regulatory framework to support them in animal resources farming and agribusiness.
“We want women to venture beyond livestock keeping by building their capacity in managing livestock, feeding them correctly to produce quality products and value addition for the animal products,” she said.
“This way, they will generate more income and have better livelihoods.”
One of the key challenges that Prof Sonia has identified as a key constraint to participating in the livestock sector is the bottleneck of the poor access to appropriate and sustainable financing mechanisms that address women’s felt needs tailored to their capacities.
“Our Governments must make financial inclusion work for women,” she said.
“There is inadequate financial inclusion for women. We need policies and laws that will support women.”
To break the cycle of poverty and inequalities, AU-IBAR has been advocating for the development and implementation of policies and legal frameworks that create a wider array of opportunities for women in the feed and fodder sector- which will lead to their economic empowerment for the inclusive and sustainable development of the continent.
“The current crisis has affected accessibility for feed and fodder for African countries. We now have to rely on our own human resources to produce it and enhance self-reliance within the sector,” she said during an interview with this reporter.
“This is actually a blessing in disguise. We must make our systems work and become self-reliant.”
Form women cooperatives
Also attending the workshop is Winifred Lai-Solarin, the Director Animal Husbandry Services, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Nigeria.
She believes that women must play an integral role in the feed and fodder sector across the African continent, to reduce the impact of the current crisis.
But she has a challenge to women interested in the sector: “women must form cooperatives and use them to get support in investing in the feed and fodder sector. You cannot have food and nutrition security, without feed and fodder security.”
She said the Resilient African Feed and Fodder Systems (RAFFS) project is positioned to empower more women into venturing into the feed and fodder sector.
Cushioning Countries From Impact Of Future Droughts
RAFFS Project officer Dr Sarah Ashanut Ossiya said the current crisis has left women in the rural areas and informal settlements more vulnerable.
Further, she cautioned that there is a need for mitigating measures to be adopted, to cushion the most vulnerable countries from the impact of future droughts.
According to Ossiya, the recent drought from late 2020 to 2022 and early 2023, “had the unprecedented feature of being the first with five consecutive rainy season failures, a climatic event not seen in 40 years, with massive loss of livestock and wildlife.”
Within the Horn of Africa region, at least 8.9 million livestock worth two billion dollars were lost to the drought. Of those, more than 2 million were in Kenya.
“This outlook augurs a trend that future droughts might be worse,” Ossiya said.
She was speaking during the workshop. The 2010-2011 drought, Ossiya said, claimed at least 250,000 lives.
What is the impact of the crisis?
She pointed out that many families and mostly the pastoralists have lost their livelihoods- with women in the rural areas and informal sector left more vulnerable.
The RAFFs project is designed to mobilize efforts that will, “bring the desired effect of addressing the immediate shortages. Inform and attract short-term increased investments to forestall future shortages of animal feeds and fodder.”
The Project is seeking to empower women through ‘Result Area 3’ to participate and benefit from Feed and Fodder and Animal Sourced Food Supply Chains to Enhance their Food and Nutrition Security.
