Women in rural areas are important
Rural women make up a quarter of the world’s population… That is a big number for a gender grouping that is, for the most part, marginalised and disenfranchised.
![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2014/10/Corbis-42-31293687.jpg)
This is according to the Women’s World Summit Foundation – WWSF.
They say:
“Rural women comprise more than one quarter of the total world population. 500 million women live below the poverty line in rural areas. Women produce 60 to 80% of basic foodstuffs in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. Women perform over 50% of the labour involved in intensive rice cultivation in Asia. Women perform 30% of the agricultural work in industrialised countries. Women head 60% of households in some regions of Africa: Women meet 90% of household water and fuel needs in Africa. Women process 100% of basic household foodstuffs in Africa.”
So what is ‘International Rural Women’s Day’?
International Rural Women’s Day takes place each year on October 15.
Rural women, the world over, play a major role in ensuring food security and in the development and stability of the rural areas.
Yet, with little or no status, they frequently lack the power to secure land rights or to access vital services such as credit, inputs, extension services, training and education.
Their vital contribution to society goes largely unnoticed. World Rural Women’s Day aims to change this by bringing rural women out of obscurity at least once a year – to remind society how much they owe to rural women and to give value and credit to their work, say the WWSF.
So, on October 15, let’s be aware of the unsung women of the world…
Source: https://www.woman.ch/index.php?page=women_15Oct