“The crucial role that women and girls play in ensuring the sustainability of rural households and communities, improving rural livelihoods and overall wellbeing, has been increasingly recognized . . . Even so, women and girls in rural areas suffer disproportionately from multi-dimensional poverty.”
United Nations, “The Invaluable Contribution of Rural Women to Development”
Today, we celebrate rural women. Whether we live in town or country, all of us depend of food grown by men and women the world over. Too often, however, the work especially of women agriculturalists is unrecognized, undervalued and underpaid.
In the Zaña Valley in northern Peru, Heart-Links’ partner Latidos is working with 40 rural women to strengthen their position within the farming family and as producers and earners in their own right.
The project, called Rural Women Chamba, is helping participants prepare business plans, increase productivity and access new markets. They have also planted a community garden and formed an association of women entrepreneurs for mutual support, collective action and future development.
how to make organic fertilizer and prepare compost.
With the advent of COVID-19, the importance of growing healthy food for their own and for other families has only increased. To help reduce the added strain on rural women during the pandemic, Latidos is providing them with seeds and then purchasing their produce and distributing it to people in need.
This kind of solidarity is part of the rural tradition. It is part of the tradition at Heart-Links too. That’s why we work with partners like Latidos who are helping create a more just world for the rural women of northern Peru.
