Senator Joni Ernst, Smallholder Farmer Olga Tumax Honor Women in Agriculture at the Hall of Laureates
April 7, 2016
On March 29 th , over 250 people gathered at the Hall of Laureates in
Des Moines for “Women and Agriculture: The Road to Global
Security”, organized by the World Food Prize, Oxfam America,
and Foods Resource Bank to celebrate Dr. Norman Borlaug’s
102 nd birthday and International Women’s Day.
The Honorable Joni Ernst, Iowa’s first female U.S. senator and an
agriculture advocate, delivered the keynote address, raising
awareness of the leadership of women in providing food for our
families, economic development in our communities, and peace in
our world.
Olga Tumax, a Guatemalan farmer and community organizer,
described the importance of making space for women to participate
in agriculture, household decision-making, and local government.
The FAO reports that if women farmers had the same access to
resources as men, the number of hungry people in the world could
be reduced by up to 150 million.
Drawing on their experiences in Guatemala and Ghana, panelists
Hugo Garrido of CIEDEG and Nora Tobin of Self-Help International
emphasized the need to protect human rights and support women
as they work for freedom and equality on the local, national, and
international levels.
With the support of Foods Resource bank and Church World
Service, Olga and Hugo are helping Guatemalan women to feed and
nourish their families, attain an independent source of income, and
challenge prevailing gender norms by opening spaces for women to
claim their rights and participate in decision-making.
In addition to the presentations, the event featured ten local
organizations that are dedicated to fighting hunger and are included
in this 3rd edition of the Iowa Hunger Directory.
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