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UN PhotoFAO / INTERNATIONAL DAY RURAL WOMEN
STORY: FAO / INTERNATIONAL DAY RURAL WOMEN
TRT: 4:32
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: PLEASE SEE THE SHOTLIST
APRIL 2024, EASTERN GHANA
1. Wide shot, women peeling plantain
2. Close up, women peeling plantain
3. Close up, plantain in a frying pan
4. Med shot, woman tossing plantain chips
5. Various shots, packing of plantain chips
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Augustina Asor Tufuor, Founder and manager of Tropical Snacks:
“When it comes to financing for tropical snacks, we have indeed faced some issues, the first being, in approaching our bankers for a loan to expand our operations, we were asked to deposit, to make available collateral, we were asked to make a deposit of 20,000 Cedis even before getting the amount we requested, as well as getting a professional evaluator to evaluate our business, which was all going to cost so much even before getting the money. Not to talk about the high interest rate that given which was over 36 percent.”
7. Various shots, Augustina and workers in the orchard
FILE, ROME, ITALY
8. Wide shot, FAO Headquarters
04 OCTOBER 2024, ROME, ITALY
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Clara Park, Senior Gender Officer, FAO:
“Women enterprises are very active in the trade space at all levels, from informal trade to formal trade. And the opening up of the Free Trade Area brings new opportunities for them. However, it also comes with increased competition, increased regulations and rules and quality standards that women businesses may not be able to achieve.”
APRIL 2024, ABUJA, NIGERIA
10. Wide shot, Asma pouring tamarind drink
11. Med shot, worker closing a bottle
12. Med shot, worker cutting labels
04 OCTOBER 2024, ROME, ITALY
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Clara Park, Senior Gender Officer, FAO:
“FAO partnered with the International Trade Center to support women small businesses and open up the possibilities to access new markets and also, prepared them with knowledge about the new trade regulations.
The project also works with governments to let them know of what are some of the critical gender concerns that need to be integrated in agricultural trade policies, as well as promotes women's access to finance, working with financial operators. So, training them on how to design financial products for small businesses.”
APRIL 2024, ABUJA, NIGERIA
14. Wide shot, Asma entering office
15. Close up, Asma scrolling through her website on a laptop
16. Wide shot, Asma and worker talking
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Asma Begum Mirza, Chief Executive Officer, Murad & Rosh Farms:
“[We] had this boot camp for financial readiness and we had it in Lagos and it was so well packaged. We learned a lot. After that we had the program make a business plan for each one of us. Again, an awesome thing. Then we were presented with our business plan that was prepared for us to pitch in front of investors, pitch our program, our business to see how we can get investment.”
APRIL 2024, EASTERN GHANA
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Augustina Asor Tufuor, Founder and manager of Tropical Snacks:
“We have seen a lot of positive changes in our business, specifically in the areas of record keeping. We got to know how crucial record keeping in business is when it comes to seeking funds.”
04 OCTOBER 2024, ROME, ITALY
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Clara Park, Senior Gender Officer, FAO:
“Gender equality and women's, empowerment are at the core of FAO’s work. We continue to invest in production of high quality evidence and data to inform our programming and provide technical assistance to countries. The voluntary guidelines on gender equality and women's and girls’ empowerment are a very important policy tool, first of its kind and they provide guidance to governments and other stakeholders to achieve gender equality and women's empowerment.”
APRIL 2024, EASTERN GHANA
20. Various shots, Augustina and workers in orchard
When Augustina Tufuor, a 30-year-old entrepreneur from Ghana realized that most of the snacks available on the market in are filled with artificial additives, preservatives and high levels of salt and sugar, she saw an opportunity and founded “Tropical Snacks,” producing all-natural plantain chips from surplus local produce. Despite an initial success, she found it hard to expand operations. Access to finance, market information and adequate infrastructure posed significant barriers. The 30-year-old struggled with financing her start-up, as traditional financial institutions were reluctant to support a small, woman-led venture.
Augustina Asor Tufuor, Founder and manager of Tropical Snacks said, “when it comes to financing for tropical snacks, we have indeed faced some issues, the first being, in approaching our bankers for a loan to expand our operations, we were asked to deposit, to make available collateral, we were asked to make a deposit of 20,000 Cedis even before getting the amount we requested, as well as getting a professional evaluator to evaluate our business, which was all going to cost so much even before getting the money. Not to talk about the high interest rate that given which was over 36 percent.”
Augustina’s challenges are not uncommon. Women consistently face structural barriers that hinder their economic potential. For women in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, where they make up a large proportion of the workforce, the hurdles are particularly steep. From lack of access to land, credit and technology to the gendered social norms that often undervalue their work, African women entrepreneurs can feel like they are fighting an uphill battle.
According to a study by the International Trade Centre (ITC), over 70 percent of women-led businesses in Africa have insufficient access to financial services, while many also operate in the informal sector where they lack legal protections and access to training and market information.
In 2021, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) along with the International Trade Centre (ITC) launched a targeted programme called Empowering Women and Boosting Livelihoods through Agricultural Trade (EWAT)
Spanning six countries, EWAT promotes women’s participation in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The programme’s objective is to increase their access to capacity building opportunities and capitalize on the new high-productivity prospects in regional trade created by the AfCFTA agreement.
“Women enterprises are very active in the trade space at all levels, from informal trade to formal trade,” said Clara Park, a Senior Gender Officer at FAO. “And the opening up of the Free Trade Area brings new opportunities for them. However, it also comes with increased competition, increased regulations and rules and quality standards that women businesses may not be able to achieve.”
EWAT equips women with the skills and resources needed to engage in cross border trade by offering training in product development, sales and marketing strategies and basic bookkeeping for improved investment readiness.
FAO further works to support and provide technical guidance to financial institutions to develop products and services tailored to women in agribusiness. This is particularly important in the agriculture sector where many women entrepreneurs rely on their personal savings or informal networks for funding.
Clara Park, Senior Gender Officer at FAO said, “FAO partnered with the International Trade Center to support women small businesses and open up the possibilities to access new markets and also, prepared them with knowledge about the new trade regulations. The project also works with governments to let them know of what are some of the critical gender concerns that need to be integrated in agricultural trade policies, as well as promotes women's access to finance, working with financial operators. So, training them on how to design financial products for small businesses.”
Asma Begum Mirza, a 61-year-old Nigerian agripreneur, had a similar difficulty in accessing to loans. Forced to relocate her farm to near the country’s capital Abuja due to security concerns, she is facing significant barriers in securing loans. High-interest rates and collateral requirements made it almost impossible for her to expand her business, and her growth remained stifled by a lack of appropriate machines for commercial production and limited production space.
To boost her chances for success, Asma attended the EWAT Financial Readiness Bootcamp, which she credits for helping her better understand the intricacies of business financing.
Asma Begum Mirza said, “[We] had this boot camp for financial readiness, and we had it in Lagos and it was so well packaged. We learned a lot. After that we had the program make a business plan for each one of us. Again, an awesome thing. Then we were presented with our business plan that was prepared for us to pitch in front of investors, pitch our program, our business to see how we can get investment.”
In Ghana, Augustina participated in a two-day Investment-Readiness Bootcamp designed to help women entrepreneurs secure loans for their businesses.
Augustina Asor Tufuor said, “we have seen a lot of positive changes in our business, specifically in the areas of record keeping. We got to know how crucial record keeping in business is when it comes to seeking funds.”
FAO further works to influence financial institutions to develop products and services tailored to women in agribusiness. This is particularly important in the agriculture sector where many women entrepreneurs rely on their personal savings or informal networks for funding.
Clara Park said, “gender equality and women's, empowerment are at the core of FAO’s work. We continue to invest in production of high-quality evidence and data to inform our programming and provide technical assistance to countries. The voluntary guidelines on gender equality and women's and girls’ empowerment are a very important policy tool, first of its kind and they provide guidance to governments and other stakeholders to achieve gender equality and women's empowerment.”
According to UN WOMEN, agriculture remains the most important employment sector for women in developing countries and rural areas, a sector that largely falls within informal economy with little or no social protection and labour rights, which in turns results in lower standard of living, poorer wages and health and limited access to social services.
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