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This year Swaziland Rural Women\’s Assembly commemorated their International Rural Women\’s focusing on the following theme: “Hlomisa make/intfombatana kutekulima lokunemphilo nalokumelelana nekugucugucuka kwesimo selitulu”, which directly translates as “educate women and the girl child on farming healthy and farming practices that can withstand climate change.”

The event took place in Nkonjaneni in the Hhohho region. 150 rural women gathered to commemorate the day of the rural woman and the role they play in feeding their families and contributing to the economy through organic agriculture.

Some of the topics covered on the day included:

• Background of Swaziland Rural Women\’s Assembly
• The importance of celebrating International Rural Women\’s Day
• What is GMO\’s and their effects
• Gender-based violence and subsistence farming

In one of the sessions of the day, the women learned about how to make organic manure and how to use it. They also learned about the importance of organic manure and the nutritional value of it. Women brought different types of seeds and explained the medicinal value of seeds in curing certain diseases. The women also engaged in seed sharing as well as selling some of their seeds.

Some women also brought dried vegetables, organic bananas, and sweet potato leaves. One of the women explained how she managed to secure food for her family through farming ‘amadumba’ and how it had helped her in eradicating hunger in the period of using it.

The women performed a drama that articulated and emphasized the importance of indigenous farming and how it was used in the past.  It also showed how women are abused domestically whereby subsistence farming is regarded as not doing a job while women work hard on the field for the family to have food security. The pictures below capture the drama that was performed by the women.

The day ended with loads of excitement from the women who attended. Women were eager to learn more about indigenous farming practices and were excited to see an organisation that advocated for organic seeds and agroecology. The women also appealed to SRWA to do another visit in their area to share the work of the organisation.