Champion gender equality in agriculture now:
Women are the backbone of food production and environmental sustainability. They make up 60% of the global agricultural labour force and are responsible for half of the world’s food production. Yet their immense contributions are often undervalued and overlooked.
As someone who deeply values equality, I believe empowering women in agriculture is essential for creating sustainable food systems and stronger communities. Women in farming often work harder and longer than their male counterparts but face far greater obstacles. Addressing these disparities is not just the right thing to do — it’s necessary for achieving a sustainable future.
Women bring invaluable expertise to agriculture — managing natural resources, adapting to climate challenges and ensuring food security for their communities. Despite these contributions, they face systemic barriers such as limited land ownership, restricted access to financing and entrenched social discrimination.
Fairness in agriculture is about more than fair wages; it is about empowering the women who are essential to our food systems, climate solutions, and communities. By uplifting rural women, we move closer to a truly sustainable future.
In support of 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children — from 25 November until 10 December 2024 — we are shining a much-needed spotlight on gender equality and human rights in agriculture with Fairtrade Africa’s “Be Fair Right Now” initiative, urging South Africans to harness their consumer power in support of ethical, fair practices.
We need to bring gender equality in agriculture to the forefront, highlighting how systemic issues affecting females in farming are not only affecting individual progress, but that of local communities and the entire world.
In South Africa, an increasing number of women are entering the farming and agribusiness sectors. Through collective consumer action, our “Be Fair Right Now” initiative aims to address these challenges, promoting fair wages, equal resource access, and sustainability practices that will benefit generations to come.
Now in its second year, we are urging South Africans to join us and rethink their buying choices to support gender fairness, environmental sustainability and climate action.
Through an interactive online quiz, consumers can discover the effect of their current purchases, explore practical ways to support Fairtrade-certified products, and even stand a chance to win. Our aim is to inspire a deeper connection between consumers and the women who work tirelessly to feed the world.
We want South Africans to recognise their power as consumers to advocate for gender equality, human rights, and environmental responsibility. This 16 Days of Activism, let us act positively for women in agriculture, for human rights, and for a fairer, more sustainable world. Through collective responsibility and ethical choices, we have the power to be effective.
To participate, South Africans can visit Fairtrade’s campaign page, take the quiz, and learn sustainable shopping tips to incorporate into daily life – here: https://befairrightnow-sa.org.
Sandra Ndlovu is the regional communications officer, Southern Africa Network at Fairtrade Africa.
Enhance communication to track progress on achieving the sustainable development goals:
We have just six years to achieve the United Nations sustainable development goals, considered the global master plan to achieve “a better and more sustainable future for all”.
“Only 17% of the SDG targets are on track, nearly half are showing minimal or moderate progress, and progress on over one third has stalled or even regressed,” UN secretary general António Guterres wrote of the sluggish progress in the foreword to the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2024.
One wonders if the residents of Mahalapye village in Botswana, eSwatini’s Manzini village, Etunda village in Namibia or Mohlonong village in South Africa have enough information about the UN developmental blueprint and its implications.
Communication professionals have a role to play in bridging this gap, translating the sustainable development goals into relatable narratives that resonate with people and inspire collective action.
Public relations and communication could be used as critical tools to track the implementation progress of SDGs. The Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management (Global Alliance) has advocated for the UN to consider introducing an 18th goal focused on “responsible communication”. The proposed goal aligns with the role that ethical and strategic communication plays in advancing societal objectives.
Moreover, information is a key ingredient to effective communication. The SDGs Report 2024 highlights that 9% of national statistical offices (NSOs) agree with the effective safekeeping and accessibility of critical needs for data-driven storytelling to promote transparency and accountability in reporting on SDG progress.
To reinforce the proposed 18th SDGs, professionalisation of the communication field must be prioritised. Responsible communication cannot exist in a vacuum, it requires a foundation of professional and continuous learning.
Membership in a recognised professional body ensures practitioners receive ongoing training, equipping them with the tools to adapt to evolving issues.
The establishment of this 18th SDG would formalise the role of responsible communication as an enabler of progress, encouraging practitioners to uphold ethical standards and harness their skills to address global problems effectively.
A further look at the SDGs progress shows persistent developmental inequalities between Global North and Global South nations. The hope is that with Brazil handing over the 2025 presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) to South Africa at the recently concluded leaders’ summit held in Rio De Janeiro, the developmental gap will be further closed. The theme of Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa, reflects South Africa’s commitment to fostering international collaboration for a more equitable future.
The Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change established at the conclusion of the G20 summit aligns with the Global Alliance’s “responsible communication” advocacy.
This is a welcome initiative in support of goal 13: Climate Action. On this, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation director general, Audrey Azoulay, said, “Through this initiative, we will support the journalists and researchers investigating climate issues, sometimes at great risk to themselves, and fight the climate-related disinformation running rampant on social media.”
The role of public relations in sustainable development was further highlighted at the Global Alliance World Public Relations Forum 2024, held in Bali, Indonesia, under the theme Purposeful Influence for the Common Good.
Oscar Tshifure is the president of Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa and Malesela Maubane is a former Prisa president.
Build soldiers capacity to combat the HIV epidemic:
On the same day we commemorated World Aids Day 2024, I was at the vigil of a former classmate and fallen soldier who died of HIV related illnesses in Kenya.
Amid the sadness of the demise of a younger soldier it was an opportunity to take stock of the situation and renew our commitment to the fight against HIV/Aids.
In 2023, there were 39.9 million people living with HIV, while the death rate was 630,000 from HIV related illnesses, according to the World Health Organisation. Some 30.7 million people were on antiretroviral therapy by 2023. And about 1.3 million people acquired HIV.
Of the 39.9 million living with HIV, 20.8 million are in Eastern and Southern Africa, where 260,000 HIV related deaths occurred. Close to 5.1 million people are living with HIV in West and North Africa, with about 130,000 Aids related deaths occurring.
Among the statistics are the armed forces.
The UNAids report on HIV among armed forces states that there are 22 million people globally in the armed forces and four out of 10 are exposed to HIV/Aids unknowingly.
HIV prevalence among uniformed men and women is underestimated, and large numbers of soldiers and police officers have died while others are living on antiretroviral treatment.
Some of the conditions that exposed uniformed men to HIV include alcohol and substance abuse, prevalence of sexually transmitted infections, economic deprivation, mobility and a mindset about their mortality.
Philly Bongole Lutaaya, a Ugandan musician who publicly declared back in 1988 that he was HIV positive. He travelled around the country opening up discussions about the disease. He died the following year and his song, Alone, became an anthem. The chorus goes: “Today it’s me, tomorrow someone else. It’s me and you, we’ve got to stand up and fight, We’ll shed a light in the fight against Aids.”
Soldiers and all uniformed men need the same courage and wisdom.
According to a Sonke Gender Justice report, “In societies most affected by HIV/Aids, it is a country’s military institutions, and the men and women who serve in them, that are often hardest hit. The rate of HIV infection is often much higher in the armed forces than it is in the rest of the population.
“In many African countries, including South Africa, the defence forces are not merely the most vulnerable to HIV infection; they are also the most likely to spread the infection.”
Some of the problems include irregular testing Linkage to prevention services, Linkage to treatment and care, Adherence and retention, Viral load monitoring, Lost follow up, Inadequate supply of testing Kits and drugs and Economic deprivation.
It’s important to track HIV prevalence, retention, care and treatment and viral load suppression among the armed forces to achieve the 2024 Global Aids Strategy targets of 95-95-95 (access to HIV services) and 10-10-10 (removing social and legal obstacles to using HIV services).
Soldiers are psychologically at the front line of danger, and this has led them to risky behaviour such as random sex without any form of protection and not being tested for HIV.
This attitude and other cultural beliefs have exposed our guardians to HIV; they need to change their mindset and adopt the gift of life.
The mobility of soldiers from one station to another, as well as occupational hazards, escalates the spread of HIV. If those on treatment miss taking antiretrovirals, it will affect their viral load suppression.
The issue can be addressed through a number of measures.
- Addressing healthcare disparities without involving the army bases, police barracks and host communities is a waste of time; they must be included in initiatives to control and manage the HIV epidemic.
- Having a number of testing points can be used to address the problem of irregular testing.
- The timely use of pre-exposure prophylaxis medicine to prevent getting HIV, and taking post-exposure prophylaxis medicine within 72 hours of exposure; ATM points that disburse condoms; and the distribution of HIV self-testing kits hold a huge potential.
- Sending SMS messages as reminders and multi-month dispensing of antiretrovirals also play a crucial part.
- Using Vistec to spur viral load monitoring and redistribution and timely ordering can address the kits and drugs shortage.
- HIV thrives a lot in a poverty environment, therefore increasing the wages of the armed forces and scaling up social uplifting programmes will change lives and help unplug economic deprivation from African armies.
- Leveraging technology will protect the data of members in the armed forces, ensuring confidentiality in the fight against HIV.
- Rescinding discriminatory laws that target priority populations is essential to attain the 95-95 UNAids targets.
- Forging partnerships with HIV-centered civil society organisations and local host communities.
- Working to shift behavioral risk factors among uniformed men and women.
Reducing the acquisition and transmission of HIV is critical to attain control over the HIV epidemic.
Robert Kigongo is a sustainable development analyst.
Submit and get free exposure here: Showcase Your Business | Advertise Your Special Offers.
