The force behind the plow

Nigerian farmer harvests corn

The force behind the plow                         

Women around the world are the farmers.
In Africa and Asia, women farm more than half the food.
Plowing, transplanting,
weeding, irrigating, harvesting,
the ancient role of women is “giver of food.”
In Brazil, a mother works in the coffee plantation
for three dollars a day, her son strapped to her back.
(What do you pay for your coffee?)
But Sushmita in India has an acre of land in her name.
Land rights!
Hungry no more, her children go to school,
and no one beats her.
She can afford meat and milk.
Women gain control of their land, their lives and their futures.
The force behind the plow.




Annelinde Metzner
May 29, 2013


Read more about Land Rights for Women from Women News Network.

"Women are the farmers of the world. Now their right to own land is being recognized as the key for ending global hunger."    Learn more about women's land rights at World Pulse.

Maria da Silva and son in Brazil

Feeding oxen in Ethiopia