Empowering women a very worthy venture

I recently came across a story featuring one of our sorghum farmers, Jennifer Atieno, of Rangwe, Homa Bay County. A widow with a big family, she has a physical disability. The income from subsistence maize farming was hardly enough to sustain her basic needs. But that would change when she enrolled in a training programme aimed at inclusion of farmers with disabilities.

Jennifer tried her hand at sorghum farming, whose returns helped her to buy food and household items, pay school fees and purchase books for her children. Delighted with the success of the venture, she leased an additional acre of land to grow more sorghum. She’s also started teaching other women and sharing the knowledge she had gained.

Indeed, empowered women create empowered societies. The ripple effects of such targeted initiatives will be felt for generations.

Equal opportunities

I have highlighted this specific story because, oftentimes, when we think about women empowerment, it’s along the lines of career advancement and equal opportunities in the workplace. However, it’s clear that this conversation goes beyond that and we probably need to do more to highlight and celebrate the millions of women like Jennifer.

How do we uplift more women inclusively, starting with the girl who is still at school and the career woman finding her way in the corporate world to the rural woman like Jennifer, who has a family to take care of but without a stable source of income?

From an education perspective, there are thousands of qualified young women being churned out of our education system every year and the first hurdle they will face is unfair hiring processes. Gender inequality still plagues us but we must take the first step in this journey of a thousand miles.

At EABL, we have rolled out an apprentice program for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) targeting university students in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Our goal is to absorb 10 trainees every year in each of our three markets, a number that will increase.

Rigorous efforts

When it comes to helping women move up the ladder, there need to be rigorous efforts to ensure they get the support they need in terms of mentorship and training, seeing to it that they are on the right path. To ensure progress and women’s full and effective participation in the corporate scene, we need to create friendly workplaces for them.

This approach has proven to deliver positive results and should encourage us to make bold moves in developing favourable policies and a supportive environment.

Beyond the office, we must elevate women and give them the skills, opportunities and platforms to succeed. That will create an impact beyond their families and communities, contributing to the national economy and creating employment opportunities within their farms.

When we are deliberate about uplifting and initiate programmes that focus on giving women access to training, mentorship, markets and employment opportunities, they can achieve any feat.

Ms Karuku is the group managing director, East African Breweries Ltd (EABL). [email protected].