Enormous bias against African women, says agency

Public urged to sign online at www.changeherlife.org

February 12, 2011: Removing an enormous bias against the women of Africa is the target of a new petition being launched by development agency Self Help Africa today.

The Change Her Life campaign aims to highlight the "raw deal" for women in Africa, who do up to 80% of all farm work on the continent, but get as little as 5% of available support, such as tools, advice, seeds, credit and training.

Self Help Africa is calling on members of the public to sign the petition at www.changeherlife.org. The petition urges Western governments to guarantee women a specific portion of international agricultural aid.

"This is not about asking for more money," said Martha Hourican of Self Help Africa. "It's about doing more with the money we have. These are tough budgetary times, so we all want aid to be more effective and this is a clear way to achieve that. Studies have shown that if African women farmers receive the same supports as their male counterparts, food production increases by 20%. That's a massive difference, and can be achieved with the stroke of a pen.

"There is no other section of society on earth which is so marginalized and yet so productive," said Ms. Hourican. "Quite literally, women do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to growing food in Africa, but their role and their value is completely unrecognized.

"Governments in the West spend hundreds of millions of euro each year on trying to develop agriculture throughout Africa. But the women who actually work the fields are missing out on this support. We want governments to set aside a significant portion of this funding specifically for women - and they will be encouraged to do it if the public get behind this campaign."

The petition is online at www.changeherlife.org. Signatures will be presented later this year to the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The global petition will also be presented to Irish and UK development ministers, as well as to the EU development commissioner