For some, the word “farmer” might conjure an image of a broad-shouldered man with strong, calloused hands and a face lined by the sun. In reality, those toiling hands and that weathered face are almost as likely to belong to a woman.
Women make up 43% of the world’s agricultural labor force in developing countries, and that figure reaches 70% in some nations, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, the Rainforest Alliance honors women in our partner communities who devote their lives to making the world a better place – one patch of earth at a time. Their stories show diversity, complexity and what it really means to do “women’s work”.
Juana Payaba Cachique, Peru
The vast rainforests in the community of Madre de Dios, deep in the heart of the Andean Amazon, provide many indigenous communities with their livelihoods. The locals in Tres Islas, one of the Rainforest Alliance’s partner communities, use sustainable methods of harvesting timber, Brazil nuts and palm fruits. When mining companies came in and began to destroy the forests, Juana Payaba Cachique, the former president of Tres Islas, started a legal battle to defend her community’s way of life.
Cachique, pictured at top, took her fight to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and eventually to the Peruvian Constitutional Court, which ruled in her favor against the mining companies. Today, Tres Islas is building a sustainable, indigenous economy with Rainforest Alliance support.
“There was always mining here, but it got to the point that there were miners here 24 hours a day,” Cachique says. “They were destroying trees because they didn’t live here … they didn’t care about the land the way we did. As leaders, we have to think about the future.”
Sikobihora Marie Françoise, Rwanda
The world consumes more than 3bn cups of tea every day. But teatime wouldn’t be possible without the work of people like Sikobihora Marie Françoise, one of more than 1 million tea farmers in Rwanda. Françoise, whose farm is in the Kitabi region, has studied and implemented sustainable farming practices to maximize her output of the crop.
A member of the Kobacyamu cooperative, Françoise learned in Rainforest Alliance training how to plant progressively, build terraces to reduce soil erosion and handle rubbish in a more sustainable way. “After training, we were taught to make compost and keep it all in one place,” says Françoise, pictured at top. “They also advised us to keep organic and nonorganic waste separate because they should not be mixed. So, I’ll keep on working harder and taking care of the tea bushes.
Reiko Enomoto, Costa Rica
“I train trainers,” says Reiko Enomoto. That’s her modest job description, but here’s what she’s leaving out: as a Rainforest Alliance senior agricultural training manager, Enomoto’s work is critical to 1.2 million farmers around the globe.
Enomoto travels often, staying in partner farmers’ countries for two to three weeks at a time. Once Enomoto meets with field-based tech teams, she writes methodologies for trainers, who then share demonstrations with farmers about topics like soil erosion, chemical usage and wastewater management.
“We come up with country-specific recommendations that are practical, cost-effective, and can have a positive impact on the landscapes and the farmers’ livelihoods,” Enomoto says. “My goal is that by the time I leave the country, the local trainers are ready and well equipped to roll out the training program.”
Mojisola Enitan Oluyeye, Nigeria
Approximately 80% of the food consumed in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa comes from smallholder farms. That gives critical context to the work of lead agricultural trainer Mojisola Enitan Oluyeye, who’s helping to lead women in Nigeria’s Ondo state toward financial independence. Women in the region have eagerly taken her specialized training for cocoa farmers.
“The more women I am able to bring into sustainable production,” Oluyeye says, “the more able I am to help take households out of poverty and food insecurity.”
Yunyan Huang, China
The enterprising co-owner and president of China’s Green Fountain Tea Estate helped her farm achieve a major milestone: becoming the country’s first Rainforest Alliance Certified tea farm. Yunyan Huang oversees the 2,400-acre site, which produces 1.1m pounds of tea each year. She’s helped initiate streamlined, environmentally conscious practices that have resulted in consistently abundant crop yields each year, and also hired an independent consultant to prepare for certification.
“We hope to serve as a role model to other farms, demonstrating the importance of sustainability and the benefits that certification brings to the environment, workers and our livelihoods,” she says.
This content is paid for by AMResorts in association with the Rainforest Alliance
