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Game Changers
- Women in Agriculture

Game Changers
- Women in Agriculture

Introduction

What do you think?

Let's try a game

Women are changing the world

May we introduce?
Seven women, seven stories of change

Game Changers

Bariétou Agbere's fight for women’s rights

Euphrasie Assogba's tomatoes
– a future in the countryside

Ramvati Adiwashi's green paradise

Juliette's new way with Togo's cashews

Ms Akech’s oasis of diversity

Krishna Radha's courageous approach to marketing

Janet Adade’s great vision for a small grain

Become a Game Changer too!

Partner

Let's try a game

What do you think?

What percentage of food in developing countries is produced by women?

Growing food and still starving?

690 million people around the world are starving.

Take a guess – what percentage of those people are women and girls?

Let's try a game

Let's assume that women all over the world have the same access to resources as men.

How many hungry people do you think could be provided with food through increased agricultural production?

What do you think needs to change primarily to enable women to use this potential?

33 %

of all users have selected the same answer as you! Empowerment of girls and women - is an important instrument to enable equal participation and involvement. In this exhibition you will get to know women who give everything with and for empowerment!

  • 42%Answer 02
  • 25%Answer 03
42 %

of all users share your opinion: We should create framework conditions that ensure equal access to education, knowledge, participation, finance and land for all genders. That would be a turbo for sustainable development - the women in this exhibition show how to activate it.

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  • 25%Answer 03
25 %

of all users think the same way as you do: you can' t achieve change without men! Gender equality brings many advantages - for everyone in society. The more men and women cooperate on it, the more sustainable development can be. This is why this exhibition gives women a voice who are committed to promoting gender equality in their communities - also by talking to men.

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Women are changing the world

The competition

In early 2020, the Game Changers – Women in Agriculture competition launched a search for seven female award winners in Africa and Asia able to demonstrate the positive influence women can have on rural development if they can fully develop their potential. 

The competition was initiated by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) as part of the ONE WORLD – No Hunger Initiative, which was launched in 2014. Gender equality and the realisation of women's rights are central to German development policy.

A world without hunger is possible!

Ending hunger and malnutrition is sustainable development goal 2 (SDG 2).

With the special initiative ONE WORLD - No Hunger, German Development Cooperation is helping to achieve this goal. One effective instrument in this context is the promotion of sustainable agriculture. It creates income and employment and helps to enable long-term food security for people.

The projects have already brought about noticeable changes in the lives of many women, too.

13 PARTNER ORGANISATIONS – 16 COUNTRIES

Thirteen international partner organisations of the special initiative ONE WORLD – No Hunger Initiative responded to the invitation and nominated 48 women from 16 countries.

The award winners

Thirteen international partner organisations of the One World – No Hunger Initiative responded to the invitation and nominated 48 women from 16 countries. An international jury selected the seven award winners in August 2020.  These seven women have changed the world around them – they are 'Game Changers – Women in Agriculture'! More information about the award and the winners can be found at weltohnehunger.org 

May we introduce?
Seven women, seven stories of change

Women are changing the world

"The seven 'Game Changers' are proving that.

Their success stories are an inspiration and motivation for women and girls around the world."

Patroness Dr. Maria Flachsbarth

Parliamentary State Secretary to the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development

Bariétou Agbere's fight for women’s rights

May we introduce?
Seven women, seven stories of change

Euphrasie Assogba's tomatoes
– a future in the countryside

Bariétou Agbere's fight for women’s rights

Togo

The RENAFAT network

Bariétou Agbere is president of the organisation RENAFAT. She encourages women farmers to set up cooperatives and to market their products together. RENAFAT has already triggered other companies at various locations. Here women aggregate and process rice, peanuts and shea nuts.

Inspiring change

"Bariétou Agbere is responsible for establishing the national network of female farmers in Togo. She has been very successfully involved in this network for many years and has received great recognition at both regional and national level. She succeeds in mobilising women and inspiring them to embrace social, economic and political change."

 

Petra Bentkämper, President German Rural Women's Association and jury member

Discrimination against women

The women do not have an easy background. Many of them cannot read and write, have had little or no school education. They often lack access to money, e.g. to loans to help them make a life for themselves.They are also at a disadvantage compared to men in other respects.

Together we are strong!

Bariétous solution to these problems: Together we are strong! Her association RENAFAT unites women from rural areas, educates them, networks them. She links them to organisations and institutions such as banks. This enables the women to create their own livelihoods. They receive support if they have problems asserting their right to land.  

Bariétou Agbere is thus a champion of women's rights in Togo.

Barétou’s vision

"My job is to help women grow. Through income-generating activities, but also by making them aware of the need to take responsibility for their actions."
 
Bariétou Agbere, Game Changer

Berietou Agbere

Step by step towards a fairer society

While she does not want to overthrow rural society – her society – she and the women she works with are taking small, decisive steps towards a more equal society that allows development for all.  
 
Her work and powers of persuasion are appreciated enormously by both women and men.

“I am very happy, because today the women in rural areas can express themselves in their own language and come out of their shell to speak.”
 
 Bariétou Agbere, Game Changer

Would you like to learn more about Bariétou Agbere?

Find more information here.

Ramvati Adiwashi's green paradise

Euphrasie Assogba's tomatoes
– a future in the countryside

Benin

Post-harvest tomato losses in Benin

In developing countries, around one third of all food is lost. This is a major problem in rural areas. Huge quantities of fresh vegetables spoil before or during transport to markets. Even simple measures can help – such as setting up communal storage and refrigeration facilities, where smallholder families can secure their harvest. Bottling vegetables to preserve them is also a solution. In addition, centrally stored goods can be brought to the market or to buyers more quickly and easily.

The foundation of AgroExpress

In 2013, Euphrasie identified this problem as a business idea. She founded the company AgroExpress so that everyone could earn something from the tomatoes instead of letting them spoil.

A success story with tomato processing

Euphrasie began by cooking tomatoes in her mother-in-law's pots.

A success story with tomato processing

Today her company processes 25 tonnes of tomatoes into powder and puree each year and has an annual turnover of a remarkable 19 million CFA – around 30,000 euros. Her work has directly impacted about 150 people involved in the production chain; from producers and transporters to workers, packaging suppliers and distributors.

 

A conscious decision

With her university degree, Euphrasie – like many educated women – would also be able to find a well-paid job in the city. However, she has decided to contribute her potential as a rural entrepreneur and underwent specialised GIZ management training.

Ländliches Unternehmertun

The win-win situation

Rural entrepreneurship can bear sustainable fruit if – as in this case – food losses are stopped and income opportunities are created. This creates a classic win-win situation for everyone: food security coupled with income generation.

Her potential

"She is an innovative entrepreneur. She is a woman who is determined to move forward. She has the potential to create many jobs."
 
Samson Kougbadi, GIZ Benin

Would you like to learn more about Euphrasie Dassoundo Assogba?

Find more information here.

Juliette's new way with Togo's cashews

Ramvati Adiwashi's green paradise

India

The role model

"With her flourishing kitchen garden, Ramvati Adiwashi has become a role model to other women in her own village and other nearby villages."

 

Neha Khara, GIZ India

Hunger in Madya Pradesh

In Madhya Pradesh, the state of Central India, the proportion of the population suffering from hunger is high. Children, adolescent girls and women are particularly affected. This is due to social norms, e.g. that they eat last and eat what is left over.

Like many other people here, Ramvati Adiwashi took part in training courses on better nutrition. For her, it was a participatory training in a project of the special initiative ONE WORLD - No Hunger.

Ramvati’s nutrition training

Unlike many other women and men, Ramvati, who has a humble background, gradually expanded her knowledge of nutrition after the initial training.

Today she is a successful multiplier herself. She teaches women in her village how to feed their families in a more healthy and sustainable way - among other things, by growing their own vegetables organically, cooking with a wide variety of fresh ingredients and giving their babies healthy porridge.

Clean water for a healthy diet

Often it is simple technologies that bring positive changes for a society. For Ramvati Adiwashi, in addition to the kitchen gardens, it was the introduction of the 'Matka' water filter. The filter is sustainably produced locally and purifies dirty water from the well to drinking water quality.

Her recommendation

"I suggest that all the women start gardening and use Matka Filter to get clean and safe drinking water. It is also important that all the women should take a better care of their food diet, and health."

Ramvati Adiwashi, Game Changer

More than 100 men and women...

...in Dalarna Khurd have benefitted from Ramvati Adiwashi’s Engagement.

 

"Despite having fewer opportunities, she has improved the situation of her own family as well as the situation of other families."

 

Prof. Regina Birner, University of Hohenheim, member of the jury

 

What has to change?

"Men should be equally involved in the household work and take care of the diet and health issues of the children as well."

 

Ramvati Adiwashi, Game Changer

Would you like to learn more about Ramvati Adiwashi?

Find more information here.

Ms Akech’s oasis of diversity

Juliette's new way with Togo's cashews

Togo

Juliette as a pioneer

The vast majority of cashew kernels produced in Togo are exported raw. Hardly anyone processes this healthy food for the Togolese themselves. Juliette was one of the first women to start making cashews available on local markets. 

Juliette gives women a chance for a living

Nearly 80 women work permanently or seasonally in Juliette's company Cajou Aklesso. Breastfeeding mothers are allowed to bring their babies to work, which gives the women an opportunity to earn an income. Juliette was one of the first women to start processing healthy cashews and make them available on local markets. 

Going new ways

As one of the most innovative young entrepreneurs in rural Togo, Juliette has organised a cashew delivery service. Young women drive the cashews to the customers. Furthermore, she uses craft processing techniques that have not been widely used so far.

Now she is planning to sustainably develop her production facility – with reduced wood and water usage.

Sharing knowledge

Juliette offers training on innovations in cashew processing. With the  knowledge acquired, other women can start their own businesses.

Would you like to learn more about Juliette Pyalo Sebou?

Find more information here.

Krishna Radha's courageous approach to marketing

Ms Akech’s oasis of diversity

South Sudan

Learning from each other

Supported by the non-profit organisation World Vision, Akech Manyuat Gong, a smallholder farmer and mother of seven, was able to take part in training courses and become a better farmer.  In the village of Hadic in the state of Warrap in South Sudan, she is now showing other people how it can be done.

Ms Akech cultivates diversity

Sustainable and climate-resilient cultivation methods are particularly important in South Sudan, where extreme climate events are common. Akech therefore cultivates a wide variety of fruit and vegetables such as corn, sesame and mangoes. Diversity makes smallholder farmers more resistant to environmental influences and crises. If, for example, the corn harvest fails due to pest infestation, farming families can still harvest other crops and consume them themselves or sell them.

Akech Gong

Ms Akech at the market

Through clever cultivation techniques Akech manages to grow enough field produce to sell the surplus at the nearby market. This not only provides an additional income for her family, but also encourages other women in her community to do the same. Many smallholder farmers in remote rural areas have limited or no access to markets to sell their products. As a result, they are unable to earn additional money to cover everyday expenses such as school fees, transport, and medicines or to invest in mechanised agricultural equipment. They remain poor. Enabling them to access markets is one of the goals of the ONE WORLD – No Hunger Initiative.

A small revolution

What Akech is doing is a small revolution for her village in terms of gender roles.

Strong women

"Those are going to win who strengthen women and give them the position they deserve."
 
Silvia Holten, World Vision

Would you like to learn more about Akech Manyuat Gong?

Find more information here.

Janet Adade’s great vision for a small grain

Krishna Radha's courageous approach to marketing

India

Krishna Radha

Krishna Radha is president of the M-Tomato Producer Company, which is a federation of nine farmer producer associations in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It has 7,000 members, over 1/3 of whom are women.

 

Krishna’s vision

"Our farmer producer company’s vision is to provide the necessary seeds, fertilisers and cattle feed to the farmers and also to market tomatoes and vegetables collectively."

Krishna Radha, Game Changer

"She is a leader and motivates other women to become active as well."

Halatou Dem, jury member and entrepreneur, Mali

The problem: prejudices

In the beginning Krishna had to listen to a lot of criticism from male cooperative farmers.
They tried to discourage her by saying that women are not able to lead companies like this and that marketing activities were not for them either.

Combating hunger with courage

With her entrepreneurial spirit and courage, Krishna has contributed to the fight against hunger and poverty in India. She not only produces food at fair prices, but also ensures that small-scale family farms have secure income.

 

Would you like to learn more about Krishna Radha?

Find more information here.

Become a Game Changer too!

Janet Adade’s great vision for a small grain

Ghana

MADOWOFA

Janet has founded the all-female producers' association MADOWOFA, which specialises in industrial processing and refinement of rice in Ghana.

Refining the rice

Janet uses the parboiling method to add value to the rice. Soaking and steaming the paddy rice causes vitamins and minerals to be pressed into the rice kernel. Parboiled rice has greater nutritional value than husked white rice.

The group also invests in packaging materials, which increase the attractiveness of the products and expand the customer base to include urban and peri-urban consumers who would normally prefer to use imported rice.

Most rice in Ghana is sold in bulk at the market. Janet saw an opportunity to introduce package sizes that better meet the needs of modern consumers.

Learning from each other

Janet has so far worked with over 1,500 other female farmers and trained them so that they can now support their families on their own.

A role model

"Her persuasiveness, business acumen and fighting spirit make Janet a role model."

Petra Bentkämper, jury member

Would you like to learn more about Janet Adade?

Find more information here.

Become a Game Changer too!

How inspiring are the stories of "Game Changers - Women in Agriculture" to you?

66 %

of the visitors* find the stories of the "Game Changers" very inspiring, just like you. How wonderful! Would you like to let us know what they inspire you to do?

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23 %

of the visitors* share your opinion - they find the stories of the Game Changers somewhat inspiring. Will you let us know what you take away from them?

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11 %

of the visitors* agree with you - they don't find the stories of the seven "Game Changers - Women in Agriculture" particularly inspiring. Maybe you have different ideas about what it takes to fight hunger and poverty effectively?

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So, what's your plan?

How would you like to become a Game Changer yourself and put an end to hunger and poverty? Send us an email with your ideas, plans or questions to rural.development@giz.de

These partner organisations of ONE WORLD - No Hunger nominated the seven "Game Changers - Women in Agriculture" and supported the creation of content for this exhibition:

The illustrator:
Sana Nasir

Sana Nasir, also known as Koi Nahi, is the creator of the illustrations and infographics of this exhibition and is an internationally award-winning illustrator who lives and works in Karachi, Pakistan.

 

About the project, she says:

“I was so moved and inspired by the stories of each and every one of these incredible ladies who live so far apart but have built a community of empowered women right in their own backyards. They have mastered agriculture and business models not just for themselves but to benefit their entire community, paving the way for young girls and boys by example of their leadership and endurance. I wanted that feeling of empowerment, glow and light to emulate from them. I chose postures, colours and expressions that represent their warmth, confidence and the openness to nurture their spaces. It was a task, researching and finding references for their rural backdrops, clothing and products. This was a labour of love and it was a pure joy to see them all come together.”

You can view her work on her website: www.sananasir.co

This exhibition is a production of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Responsible: BMZ, ONE WORLD – No Hunger, Division 122, Sebastian Lesch

Editor: Dorothea Hohengarten, Sector Project Sustainable Rural Areas (GIZ)

Editorial team GIZ: Noémie Tokplen, Elena Offner, Lennart Funck, Juliane Lutze, Hanna Weinsheimer, Sarah David, Jan Pütz, Kai Schütz, Jan Westerbarkei, Boris Büchler

Design and programming: Framework GmbH, Cologne + RMH Media GmbH, Cologne

Photo and video credits

Room 1: videos Bariétou Agbere: © KAS/Noel Kokou Tadgenon

Room 6: photo Dr. Maria Flachsbarth: © Thomas Trutschel/photothek.net

Room 8: videos/ photos Bariétou Agbere/Maurice Gblodzro: © KAS/Noel Kokou Tadgenon

Room 9: videos / photos Euphrasie Dassoundo Assogba: © GIZ/Pierre Adanon; video Halaou Dem: © Halatou Dem

Room 10: videos / photos Ramvati Adiwashi: © GIZ/Shubham Sharma

Room 11: videos / photos Juliette Pyalo Sebou: © GIZ/Kossi Mawuli Husunukpe; video Bastian Beege: © GIZ/Bastian Beege

Room 12: video Silvia Holten: © World Vision/Silvia Holten; videos / photos Akech Manyuat Gong: © World Vision/Scovia Charles

Room 13: videos / photos Krishna Radha: © GIZ/M. Bhavya; video Suhasini Huddone: © GIZ/Suhasini Huddone

Room 14: videos / photos Janet Adade: © Simon Hedeka; photo of Janet in the field: © Eunice Ahiabor; vídeo Angelina Yeboah:

© GIZ/Angelina Yeboah; video Petra Bentkämper: © DLV/Petra Bentkämper

Video edit/subtitles: ich.tv, Cologne

Video coordination: World Report, Amsterdam

Game Changers - Women in Agriculture

Introduction

What do you think?

Let's try a game

Women are changing the world

May we introduce?
Seven women, seven stories of change

Game Changers

Bariétou Agbere's fight for women’s rights

Euphrasie Assogba's tomatoes
– a future in the countryside

Ramvati Adiwashi's green paradise

Juliette's new way with Togo's cashews

Ms Akech’s oasis of diversity

Krishna Radha's courageous approach to marketing

Janet Adade’s great vision for a small grain

Become a Game Changer too!

Partner