Healthy products without the use of toxic sprays and fertilizers
Forough Sadat Bani Hashem is an advisor to the Minister of Agriculture Jihad in the Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs and director general at the Office of Rural and Nomadic Women’s Agricultural Development. She holds a master’s degree in research from the University of Tehran and has done extensive research on the problems of rural and nomadic women. You will find excerpts from our interview with her below.
“In recent years, the participation of rural and nomadic women in agricultural and rural development has increased both qualitatively and quantitatively,” Bani Hashim said about the Office of Rural and Nomadic Women’s Agricultural Development. The rate of female graduates in rural and nomadic areas has risen from 2% in 1986 to 57% in 2016. This shows that they are very inclined to embrace new knowledge and skills in their work.” She continued, “Currently, there are about 15,000 rural development facilitators and more than 200 nomadic facilitators.” Bani Hashim also added, “Another project of rural and nomadic women is to support the formation of local micro funds. More than 20 billion tomans have been given as loans and their repayment rate has been above 95%. More than 130,000 rural and nomadic women have been employed through their loans from micro credit funds.”
Bani Hashim stated, “Another program of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad is to strengthen the role of women in sustainable development and proper management of water and soil. The program is being implemented in partnership with the Vice Presidency of Women and Family Affairs through the signing of an agreement.”
Bani Hashim said, “With the implementation of this agreement, more than 22,000 people became certified in the production and consumption training program within three years. Moreover, 140 manufacturers carried out all the tests required to obtain the standard certification of chemical pollutant.”
She added, “Rural and nomadic women’s thrive in this program and the support of the Vice Presidency for Women’s and Family Affairs has led to the continuation of the project. This in turn has yielded the expansion of home gardens with the approach of producing healthy crops without the use of fertilizers. More than 2,000 gardens have been created using certified production methods.”
“Undoubtedly, implementing this program and expanding it to a greater extent will prove effective in improving the nutrition of rural people and improving their health.” She added, “This year, with the signing of a four-party agreement with the Vice Presidency of Women and Family Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage and the Rural Development Department, it is predicted that about 300 certified products will be produced. The Department of Rural Development and Deprived Areas has also pledged to make available 10 billion tomans in facilities to producers of standard products.
“One of the serious policies of the office is to promote entrepreneurship, which has been prioritized in our agenda” Benny Hashim said. “In this project, individuals are first trained as coaches and entrepreneurship facilitators, and then other rural and nomadic women are instructed through the help of this cohort.
Bani Hashim said the project has so far been implemented in 18 provinces and has trained 720 entrepreneur coaches and facilitators. The implementation of this project has led to the expansion of small and new businesses. Projects such as breeding scorpions, leeches (with a license), Cambodia production, and rural and nomadic eco-tourism are included. One of the achievements of this undertaking is the connection between small producers and funding members with startups working in the field of nomadic and rural products. In Hormozgan Province, funding members use the Zoodle site to sell their products.
Bani Hashim commented on the requirements for the development of rural and nomadic women’s participation. “Empowering women in their professional knowledge and skills is a necessity, so that at least 20% of them are covered by a program annually.” She added, “The population of rural and nomadic women over 18, meaning those who are at working age, is five million. With this program, over the course of five years, it can be hoped that all women of working age have passed at least one training course and look forward to completing courses or acquiring new knowledge in the coming years. Given the viability of this area, the scope of training programs is very weak and limited. The results, however, are brilliant and largely focused on employment.”
Benny Hashim continued, “Developing and defining a standard home business and setting separate criteria for licensing processing and packaging workshops in rural areas is another program in progress.”
She added, “We have an agenda to accredit women’s organizations, especially local micro-banks, to pay for low-interest facilities with mechanisms tailored to the conditions of these funds and their members.”
Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs