AVC_DP positions itself as an effective partner for rural women
It was on October 20, 2018, on the occasion of the celebration in Cameroon of the 23rd edition of World Rural Women’s Day in Meyomessi, of the Dja and Lobo Division, South Region Cameroon, that the Agricultural Value Chains Development Project (AVC_DP) presented to rural women the various opportunities it offers.
The AVC_DP, responded favorably to the request to participate in the event, made by the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family (MINPROFF), which has the responsibility to organize and supervise this celebration. It was a matter for AVC_DP to position itself as an effective development partner and to present the opportunities offered as concerns rural women.
The theme of this 23rd edition was “Empowering rural women through the development of effective partnerships”, a theme that fits with international, regional and national guidelines for the advancement of women and sustainable development.
Indeed, rural women are at the root of many economic and social changes conducive to sustainable development. They make up a larger portion of the world’s agricultural labor force and undeniably contribute to the fight against hunger and poverty. By their presence, rural women stabilize life in the countryside and reduce the scale of rural exodus. Alongside their spouses they guide, educate and contribute to the school needs of their children. Rural women create wealth through the individual and community farms they cultivate. In addition to the role they play in food security, they are recognized for their support to the movements for democracy, human rights and peace.
In line with the celebration, a training workshop in which AVC_DP took active part was organized for the rural women on 19 October 2018 by MINPROFF in Meyomessi.
Among others, the rural women were tutored on:
- Management and maintenance of a cash register;
- The importance of the transit from associations and ‘‘GICs’’ to Cooperatives, recognizing cooperative as an opportunity for effective partnerships;
- The effective partnership to be established with AVC_DP through planned activities for women grouped in cooperatives;
- The opportunities for training, integration and empowerment of young men and women with the ongoing recruitment of “agripreneurs” at AVC_DP.
The ceremony was presided over by Madam Marie-Thérèse ABENA ONDOUA, Minister of Women Empowerment and the Family. Other Members of government honored the ceremony with their presence, notably: Mr. Louis Paul MOTAZE, Minister of Finance and elite of the locality, Mrs. Clémentine ANANGA MESSINA, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINDEL / MINADER), and Mrs. Mbah Acha Rose FOMUNDAM, Minister Delegate to the Presidency of the Republic in charge of State Audit; as well as many CERAC representatives who came to support the event’s patron, Mrs Aïcha MOTAZE.
This was followed by a large parade of rural women’s associations and organizations in the South, under the supervision of MINPROFF team and the other partner administrations, including MINADER. Indeed, several women groups paraded in a honorable way in front of the distinguished guests of the tribune of honor, beautifully colored for the occasion.
Subsequently, these women’s associations received from the hands of Minister Marie-Thérèse ABENA ONDOUA and other invited guests, various donations made of agricultural materials and equipment to encourage and stimulate them in order to sustainably improve on the potential of their agricultural exploits.
This celebration was an opportunity to highlight the immeasurable contribution of rural women to the stability and development of the agricultural sector in rural areas. It is for this purpose that the Minister for the Empowerment of Women and the Family was keen to encourage and praise the work that these queens of the soil do on a daily basis.
Consequently, the rural women were recommended to always group together in cooperatives in order to be strong and competitive, to know how to seize the opportunities available for them, to turn to the governmental and non-governmental structures to solicit the strengthening of their capabilities to be able to create and innovate. It is on this that the participation and the contribution of the AVC_DP was laudable at this rural world event.
TEMBU Evans