Climate-smart irrigation reaps rewards for rural women
From Laos to Moldova, meet three women who are using climate-smart irrigation to adapt to their new normal.
This is an excerpt of an interview with IFAD Goodwill Ambassador Sabrina Elba that will be released as part of the Goodwill Ambassador Series, jointly hosted by Talking Foreign Affairs with Adil Cader and the United Nations Association of Australia Young Professionals Network (UNAA YPN). The series seeks to raise awareness of the global challenges that Goodwill Ambassadors tackle in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and inspire young people to engage with international causes.
I grew up first-generation Somali in Canada, with a proud mother who was very focused on making sure that we didn't buy into false narratives about rural people – particularly rural African people. There was a lot of television that showed rural people in an unflattering light, suggesting that they were waiting for handouts rather than showing them for the hardworking people they really are.
When I found out about the work that IFAD was doing and how it was helping to give rural people a voice and a path to economic independence, I thought: this is exactly right. It's investments that we should be looking at.
People want to work, and people want to take care of themselves, and it's that old saying: “Rather than give someone a fish, give them a fishing rod.” I love the idea of agriculture as a means to independence and freedom, and it makes so much sense. It also touches on so many issues that I'm passionate about, whether it be gender or climate.
Without a doubt, in my opinion, today it's climate. It's absolutely climate. I was in Zambia earlier this year, driving by some crops that looked absolutely scorched. I said to the driver, "Oh, was there a fire here?" and he said, "No, we just haven't had a rainy season this year."
Climate change is impacting rural areas in the Global South today, and organizations like IFAD are out there helping farmers to adapt to those changes with things like climate-resilient seeds. Adaptation should be just as important as mitigation, but I think so often it is forgotten, and it is absolutely one of the biggest barriers and challenges that rural people face.
The field visits that I've been able to go on have not only impacted my life but have changed it. First of all, I've learned so much, but meeting people firsthand also resonates with you in a different way.
I was so honoured to be able to go and meet people like Dionisia, this amazing woman who works as a weather forecaster. With her briefcase and her measuring device, she would send weather information to the appropriate people every day. She took that job very seriously because she understood how many people it impacted.
I visited places like Njukiri Village and saw a forest of new saplings that were tended to by local farmers, building a mutually beneficial relationship in which the trees provide coverage for the crops. I was also privileged to go and see a wildlife fence and understand more about the relationship between rural people and wildlife in that area.
On those trips, you realize these issues are so much more complex than we understand them to be. They're so much more interconnected, and I think being able to hear from rural people firsthand – what they feel their barriers are and what they feel their obstacles are – not only informs me, but it constantly keeps IFAD informed.
Farmers really are the custodians of our planet. They’re the people who understand not only things like the biodiversity of a given region, but what it really takes for success in that area, from a people perspective and from a planet perspective.
It's about how you give the voices of those we represent the access that they deserve—how they come into the room with you, how those voices have a seat at a table next to you, at a table they may not potentially have had an opportunity to be at. That is the most important thing.
It's a platform, it's spreading awareness and – most importantly – understanding about these issues that we talk about all the time. To me, if I can have one conversation every day with somebody who may not understand the issue, or I can allow them to see the issue in a different light – that’s probably one of the most important things I can do.
I hope since I've come on as Goodwill Ambassador, maybe a couple more people know about IFAD and what they do. I think they are one of the world's best-kept secrets.
This interview excerpt has been edited for length and clarity.