Most people try to leave rural communities to the city. Rural women in particular suffer the effects of gender inequality more acutely than urban women. But Laila Sahel made the move the other way around, fighting both against the effects of climate change and the harshness of city economic scene.
For the Moroccan Laila, climate change is very serious. She sees it in the increased frequency of natural disasters in her country and the looming threats of coastal erosion, water scarcity and even Tsunamis if nothing changes in the future. In fact, it is widely believed that climate change is a contributing factor in the migration patterns from rural to urban areas due to the resulting scarcity of natural resources.
Laila moved against the stream, from the city of Casablanca where she worked in a textile factory, to the outskirts of the rural Dar Bouazza. She did not know much about farming, but she has always loved the land. Today, she is one of 203 Women Seed Growers who managed to create three seed banks through which they sell and exchange their seeds and make a profit.
“Now we are able to sell baskets directly from farmer to consumer,” said Laila in reference to organic food baskets sold in the nearby city of Casablanca as demand for healthier food increases.
The 203 women are participants in a joint programme between UN Women and Terre et Humanisme under the title of “Support to Women Seed Growers for an Equal, Solidary and Sustainable Development in Morocco”. Last February, the women came together in the agroecology farm of Dar Bouzza to exchange seeds and expertise. Their gathering was also to launch the “Seed Caravan”- a new joint initiative supported by French Cooperation to bring together Women Seed Growers and raise the public awareness on the importance of preserving traditional seeds to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Climate change affect women disproportionately as it exacerbates existing gender inequalities with the resulting scarcity of resources. Rural women are even more vulnerable as they typically receive less education than their city counterparts, and are allowed less freedom of movement, land ownership and work. Charged with the responsibility for childcare and the burden of their families “honor” but without much economic independence, rural women’s influence on decision-making in their communities is usually nil. But in the remote village of Dar Bouazza and other similar locations across the country, rural women are finding a new voice in the crisis.
As Morocco prepares to host the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) next November, rural women are seizing the opportunity to show the world they are capable of leading the change. For the participants of the programmes, applying environment-friendly farming practices allowed them to play a role in combating the adverse effects of climate change, enhanced their production and generated profit. They mostly live in vulnerable areas such as oases and mountain regions where the impact of climate change is strongest on natural resources. Seeds are a crucial part of their story.
“We need to always protect our seeds. The seed is the most important thing in all of this," Laila stated.
Growing Seeds and Hope in
Rural Morocco
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