RWA Zambia commemorated the International Day of Peasants Struggles on the 17th of April, 2023 by participating in the webinar organised by Rural women’s Assembly Southern Africa. It joined millions of peasants around the world to celebrate this day under the theme promotion and protection of human rights enshrined by the United Nations Declaration on the rights of peasants.(UNDROP). These rights include, rights to Land and other resources, right to Seed, right to Water and sanitation, right to participate, right to food and food sovereignty and cultural rights and traditional knowledge.
Peasants in Zambia face a lot of struggles. One of the major struggles that they face is lack of loans due to high collateral. Another struggle that peasants face in Zambia, is lack of clean water for human beings and livestock as most of the rivers and streams are polluted by the mines especially in the Copperbelt region of Zambia. Further, access to land and title deeds for women with land is still a challenge. There is no land in the city as women have to look for land in the outskirts of the city to look for traditional land. For example in Lusaka, obtaining title traditional land is still a struggle because traditional leaders do not offer titles.
Additionally women peasants are given small portions of land. In the morning they are working in the men’s fields and in the afternoon they work in their fields as such they do not have enough time to work in their fields. When the crops are ready, the men get everything and sell without giving the women their share. When the women ask for their share it ends in gender based violence which is rarely reported.
Difficulties in accessing markets is also a challenge due to the presence of middle men who negotiate the price of crops on behalf of small scale farmers also disadvantages peasants. Droughts and floods (climate change) also pose a challenge too. Peasants need to be warned and sensitised on the crops to grow during the drought season. Another challenge is that local seed is not recognised as local seed and considered as grain. Only foreign seed is recognised by the government which makes it difficult for peasants to sell crops and seeds. Additionally the government does not recognise and buy indigenous seeds and crops. Peasant farmers do not receive subsidies on indigenous seeds. Subsidies are only given on hybrid seeds and peasant farmers have no say but receive whatever is given to plant because they are not economically empowered to buy their own seeds and therefore depend on the Government to give them hybrid seed which the plant.
In order to promote and protect the rights of peasants rights which is the theme for this year’s International day of peasant struggles. Zambia RWA in April 2023, launched the Karibu project on rural women’s rights campaign which focuses on Agro ecology, Agro forestry and United Nations Declaration on the rights of Peasants (UNDROP).Karibu project is an ongoing campaign that is running for 12 months. Zambia Rural Women’s Assembly through the women’s rights campaign has been conducting training and sensitization programs on the rights of peasants in the six regions namely, Lusaka, Mumbwa, Rufunsa, Chingola, Luanshya and Shibuyunji districts.
Our fight as Zambia Rural Assembly to ensure that our Indigenous seed is recognised as seed by our government. Whoever controls seed controls food. Whoever food controls nations. We want our farmers rights back because our seed is our right, our pride, our culture, our identity and heritage. Our fight also as Zambia Rural Women’s Assembly is that our government implements UNDROP as we have no legislation in place to implement and support UNDROP. We need to make noise so that our government recognises and implements UNDROP. With UNDROP by our side in our laws, in the group, we can truly be the guardians of Land, Water, Seed, Life and Love.