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rural women is a fact that needs no debate.
The largely innocent, unambitious, reserved and vulnerable lot has done great work for this country and the world at large.
Their love, sacrifice and passion to raise their families needs no debate.
My heart bleeds, and in some instances jumps up with excitement when I see women carrying firewood or at a well fetching water for their families. They always seem oblivious of the role they play in bringing up not just their families but the country and world at large.
Through their hands today’s economists, engineers, bankers, pilots, accountants, doctors, pharmacists and a whole lot of them have passed.
These women engage in activities that contribute directly and indirectly to the development of their communities and the national economy at large.
They seem unaware of the big role they play in building a nation. The sum total of their seemingly small daily chores that often goes unrecorded contributes immensely to a nation’s well-being.
But to the women, it all comes naturally and they don’t not seem too concerned about getting recognition from Government, society or  or any other authority. Their preoccupation and joy is derived from knowing that they have brought up a man or a woman who amounts to something in society.
Just watch how their faces glow with joy when their daughter or son visits from the city driving a sedan of any make, with a few groceries in the boot.
They are not even aware of the global impact of their daily efforts to fend for their families.
Their satisfaction comes when a granddaughter or grandson rushes to sit on their lap. Oh that makes their day! But as we joined the rest of the world in commemorating the International Day for Rural Women on Monday, I felt that while these women have given their all, the world has failed them.
Their efforts are not duly recognised while not much attention is given to their needs.
The statistics below which I gleaned from a supplement published yesterday were quite revealing:
l Rural women comprise more than a quarter of the world’s population
l 500 million live below the poverty datum line in rural areas and yet women produce between 60 percent and 80 percent of basic foodstuffs in sub-Saharan Africa
l Women meet 90 percent of all the household water and fuel needs in Africa
l Women process 100 percent of household foodstuffs in Africa
l Women perform 30 percent of the agricultural work in industrialised countries
l Women perform over 50 percent of the labour involved in intensive rice cultivation in Asia.
The above statistics are certainly no mean achievement by women in general and rural women in particular.
Women are certainly a pride for any nation and rural women in particular need to be celebrated.
Hats off to such organisations at the Professional Women, Executives and Businesswomen Forum (Proweb) for celebrating such iconic women.
I know as Government, the private sector and non-governmental organisations, more can be done to better reward and recognise the role that rural women play in the nation’s livelihood.
Women always go the extra mile to ensure their families have such basic necessities as water and firewood while at the same time tilling the land and even herding the cattle for family sustenance.
They come up with collective income-generating projects and clubs from which they pull resources to pay school fees, purchase school needs and to equip their kitchen and furnish their homes.
Such initiatives, even through savings clubs, have a phenomenal impact on the economy of their respective communities and the world at large.
In many cases, women take it upon themselves to spruce up schools and clinics in their respective areas all in the name of raising a better child who often goes on to impact the world in an unimaginable manner.
In this country most households in rural and urban areas have been sustained by these women.
Even with urbanisation, I do not think there is a single person who has not had their life directly impacted by a maternal or paternal grandmother in the rural areas.
Even as we stream to the Mbare vegetable market with our US dollars, we may not necessarily be cognisant of the fact that at least 60 percent of the produce is coming from such rural areas as Mutoko, Murehwa or Chivhu where women are engaged in market gardening projects.
Don’t be fooled by the male figures who are ready to collect the money when you make the purchases. The real sweat comes from the women who are often kept in the background or are left behind attending to the daily chores.
There was a time, particularly during the 2007-2008 economic dip, when urban families were now looking up to their mothers and grandmothers in rural areas for such basic necessities as mealie-meal, sour milk, meat and vegetables which they would send into the cities.
Most shops at that point had nothing on the shelves.
Certainly poverty eradication initiatives would be incongruent to the desired goals if they did not not involve not just rural women but the fairer sex in general.
There is, therefore, need for these women to be recognised for their efforts while programmes are put in place to elevate their efforts to build the nation and the world at large.
In his statement to commemorate the Rural Women Day, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lamented the disadvantages and discrimination that has compromised efforts by the women to realise their potential.
“For too many rural women, their daily reality is one in which they do not own land they farm, are denied the financial services that could lift them out of poverty, and live without the guarantee of basic nutrition, health services and amenities such as clean water and sanitation.”
He also stressed that “empowering rural women is crucial for ending hunger and poverty”.
This statement is instructive.
Let us do the best for our mothers and grandmothers who selflessly give their all for the world’s benefit.
They do not assign their energy and passion to their specific families but do the best for the family next door, the village nearby and ultimately the entire globe.
These women are the real heroines and they must be celebrated.
Not just by giving them accolades but by improving their situation. By empowering them in a manner that makes their lives a lot easier and a lot less painful.
A whole world of difference can be made if, instead of walking five kilometres to fetch water, a few boreholes are installed nearby and instead of travelling                20km in the middle of the night to get to a maternity ward, more clinics and hospitals are built closer to home.
For banks, instead of insisting on the collateral that is hardly there, project viability can be the precondition. These women save money and are honest when it comes to loan repayments.
We should collectively make efforts to better their lives instead of ignoring them when, in fact, our very existence and livelihood can easily be traced back to their selfless efforts to bring up a well-groomed nation even with very few resources at their disposal.
Let us salute these women and give them what is due to them!
In God I Trust!
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