Celebrating the Role of Rural Women | An initiative by the Gender Cluster

Women play a significant role in many aspects of global living: sometimes unrecognised, unreported, or underreported. As a group interested in issues relating to gender in Africa, the Gender Cluster of the FAR-LeaF II programme saw the International Day to celebrate women in the rural areas (International Rural Women's Day on 15 October 2025) as a perfect opportunity to bring to the spotlight the contribution of rural women to local economies and food security.

Passionate as we are about gender issues, the cluster wanted to reach a large audience with the message of the contribution of our rural women to global living. After considering the available options, a social media campaign on International Rural Women's Day, utilising flyers and videos, was determined to be the most effective way to reach as many people as possible and celebrate rural women. The Rural Women's Day campaign targeted a wide range of audiences, all of whom use social media, including rural women. The instruments used for the campaign (flyer and video) were tailored to produce this effect.   

The cluster consists of the following research fellows:

• Dr Miriam Ameworwor (cluster leader) – sustainable livelihood of women fishers (Ghana)

• Dr Fenet Belay – sustainable coffee production (Ethiopia)

• Dr Juliana Cheboi – improving access to nutritious climate-smart crops through behaviour change (Kenya)

• Dr Judith Falola-Olasunkanmi – resilient cropping systems for African smallholders (Nigeria)

• Dr Pearl Lefadola – a sustainable approach to food loss in the tomato supply chain (Botswana)

• Dr Jacquiline Ndosi – agricultural innovation to empower women farmers (Tanzania)

• Dr Alassan Seidou – pastoral land politics for women livestock farmers (Benin)

• Dr Enoch Tham-Agyekum – fostering social learning and cohesion against drought (Ghana)

• Dr Ruth Wainaina – innovative science communication for smallholder farmers (Kenya)

  
  

The Gender Cluster's interest inspired the campaign to bring the contributions of women in all sectors into the spotlight. The rationale behind reaching a large audience was to:

• Remind people of the day 

• Cause people to reflect and recognise the contribution of rural women

• Spark a social dialogue among policymakers on how to work towards minimising the limitations that confront rural women

• Celebrate the effort of rural women.  

One of the social media flyers showcases the fellows who work with women in rural environments as part of the FAR-LeaF and other research projects:

Dr Miriam Ameworwor (right) featured as part of the social media campaign, showing her actively working on the sustainable livelihood of women fishers along the White Volta River in Northern Ghana.

A short video was produced and shared via diverse social media platforms:

Dr Miriam Ameworwor reporting on the Gender Cluster