Voices of the Streets – Episode 4: Rural womens’ struggles in Southern Africa

Voices of the Streets is a podcast series published by the Alternative Information and Development Center (AIDC). It highlights peoples’ voices and opinions during political events happening primarily in Cape Town.

We believe that social justice and effective democracy requires the working class and marginalized groups to be listened to. Therefore we are out on the streets recording protestors and offering a mouthpiece for those voices that remain too often unheard.

“Rural womens’ struggles in Southern Africa” was made during the Rural Womens’ Asssembly (RWA) 10^th anniversary celebrations. 400 women from rural areas in 10 countries across Southern Africa came together in Johannesburg from November 26th to 28^th. They shared knowledge and skills, targeting issues such as climate emergencies, fighting patriarchy, agro-ecology and  small scale farming.

In this podcast, 12 women from 10 different countries were interviewed. They describe what it is like to be a women farmer in southern Africa, the changes they want to see in their society, and what they learned in these 3 days.

Interviewees

Joyce – Zimbabwe
Mutale Annie – Zambia
Grace – Zambia
Bernadette – Zambia
Zodwa – Swaziland
Nomonde – South Africa
Elisabeth – Namibia
Helena – Mozambique (translated from portuguese)
Catherine – Mauritius
Clara – Malawi
Lydia – Madagascar (translated from French)
Mamalefetsame – Lesotho

RWA is a growing network of organizations ruled by Southern African women. You can see their latest achievements on their website: https://ruralwomensassembly.wordpress.com/

Jingle beat: Accuse by Alaska
Producers: Janina Jablonski & Emile Thiodet