Kumba Daffeh -Kah, the initiator of the Treasure Women Warriors, a women-led organization, says the government of President Adama Barrow needs to prioritize land right for women in the country.
Speaking at a recent forum marking the Gambia’s fifty-eighth independence anniversary, the Leader of the Treasure Women Warriors announced that her women tasked her to convey their messages on their behalf.
“So here I am standing before you to say, women do matter in this country, and land rights to women must be a priority to the present government,” she emphasized.
Mrs. Daffeh believes the Gambia could be a self-sufficient food nation by making land accessible to women.
The passionate ladies advocate says Women do not inherit land in ninety percent of communities across the tiny West African nation, noting that women are the producers of most of the food consumed in the country.
She further disclosed that Lumo (weekly market) canteens all over the country are occupied by men, while women are sweating under the sun selling their farm produce.
“I was denied a place at the Kiang Knuennella Lumo (weekly market) because she is not one of us,” she voiced to the gathering.
Kumba quickly unveiled that her organization cultivated thirty-seven thousand hectares of land, revealing that they have stored three hundred bags of maize, four hundred bags of groundnuts, seven bags of beans, and about a hundred bags of Wonjo.
“That was not easy to do, and we did it without mechanization,” she unveiled.
She also said her Treasure Women Warriors said women need to leverage the youth in this country because many of the farmers are aging.
Mrs. Daffeh says the Gambia will not be built by the funding that comes from donors. She also noted that the country would not be made by citizens blaming each other.
“We need to roll our sleeves. The Treasure Warriors, for example, we have done it without funding from the international community,” she underlined.
The Treasure Women Warrior’s initiator is the conviction that to leave a legacy; the country must start with whatever resources are available.
“We have to hold each other; let’s love each other, Let’s support each other, let’s be our keeper; we need that in this country,” she recommended.
The United Nations Development Program says investing in agriculture and particularly in promoting the role of women in agriculture has ample potential to boost not only the well-being of the rural women in The Gambia but also to make a dent in the challenging social issues The Gambia has been facing in terms of malnutrition and reducing the prevalence of underweight children aged an under-five year.
Established in 2019, the women-based organization’s vision is to uplift women to financial freedom and unite them to build more decisive leadership.
