Mariam Sissiko, who helps coordinates the work of peasant farmer organizations in Mali, called on people in the US to build a sustainable future in solidarity with family farmers worldwide. Photo: K. McNeely/CWS

Sowing Justice for Family Farmers Requires Solidarity

February 26, 2007

“A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold”

Luke 8: 5-8, NRSV

In this short parable Jesus describes many of the particular vulnerabilities faced by farmers everywhere. Access to good land, water, and the plagues of pests, birds, weeds and rocks are only some of the hurdles that farmers consider when they invest in planting, tilling and harvesting crops. All farmers, whether they live in Minnesota, Mexico or Mali, face enormous challenges. As the debate over the US farm bill heats up, it seems that these family farmers have one more burden to carry—policies originally put in place to support U.S. farmers are not the safety nets they once were and these policies may even be increasing the hardships for farmers in developing countries.

In launching the Sow Justice campaign, Church World Service calls on decision makers in Washington to reform the US farm bill to help family farmers in the US and around the world save their farms, feed their families and education their children. At a recent forum held in Washington, DC, farmers from various parts of the world were given an opportunity to share their particular challenges and to call on people in the US to work together in solidarity and build sustainable futures for family farmers everywhere.

Mariam Sissiko is a member of the national leadership body of CNOP, an organization that coordinates the work of peasant farmer organizations of Mali. She highlights some of particular challenges of women farmers in Mali as she shares her experience of 20 years of working in the peasant farmer movement and her vision of solidarity with farmers in the United States.

Church World Service: Can you describe the current impact of low commodity prices on women farmers in Mali?

Sissiko: In Mali 60 percent of the producers are women. Since women hold the families together, more families live in poverty because women are negatively impacted by these low prices. Women in my area produce rice. We went into rice production for the money—to sell rice and earn enough money to buy millet, the major staple in our diet. Then the state started this large project where they built a dam and large rice paddies. But this project did not benefit small farmers. We could no longer sell our rice because the larger project drove down the prices.

CWS: Can you tell us more about the dam and its impact on your access to water?

Sissiko: Where I live borders a river. The farmers in my area do not depend on motorized pumps for irrigation. Several years ago the Manantali hydroelectric dam was built on the Bafing River, a tributary of the Senegal River. It stopped the natural flow of water. Now those of us living downstream no longer have access to water to irrigate our fields. Those of us who live on the river’s edge cannot produce because we do not control the water—we may plant one month, but the next month the water may be released and it ruins what we’ve planted. We are forced to plant further away from the river and to buy motorized pumps to irrigate because we don’t have the access to water we once had. Before the dam was built we were promised we’d be able to produce 12 months out of the year. What we were not told was who would control the water. Now it ruins our crops when it is released and causes the area to flood. The water stagnates and brings on disease. When the women care for sick children our poverty increases because we are not working. On top of that, we are now being asked to pay for the water!

CWS: What actions are you taking?

Sissiko: We are protesting paying for water and in this struggle we are up against the OMVS (the organization for the development of the Senegal River). The dam serves three counties and those three governments are passing on the costs to their populations. Downstream farmers affected by the dam have also created a union. We are demanding that irrigated agriculture be reorganized and accessible to more farmers; that adequate health regulations be established to address pollution and diseases caused by the dam; and that local people participate in future decisions which affect us.

CWS: Are there other challenges you face as women farmers in Mali?

Sissiko: Yes, land ownership. The law says that men and women are equal. On the books women can own land, but the problem is that women have no money to buy the land. Nor do we have access to familial land. On the family level the chief of the village or head of the family distributes and controls the land. Women are marginalized without land rights because women still live under the decisions of men.

CWS: What is it that women need in Mali?

Sissiko: At the grassroots level women need resources for education, health services and other resources to help women improve living conditions for themselves and their families. Remember, men can and tend to migrate, but women stay with the family and are often left with the responsibilities to care for all. There is a great need for access to credit, so that women can work on building infrastructure, accessing small irrigation mechanisms to improve their crop yields, value-added industries and small scale animal farming to raise the nutritional level of children. We need greater education so that we can understand our rights and begin to work together to claim them.

CWS: When you return to Mali what do you plan to tell the people of your U.S. speaking tour?

Sissiko: When I received the visa to come to the United States, I thought I was going to paradise. I will tell the women I know in Mali that the United States is not what we had thought. There are many problems that farmers in the U.S. face as well. These problems may be less weighty than the problems we face, but there are problems here too. I also bring hope that there is a bigger fight we are fighting that requires solidarity among farmers and organizations around the world for the right to farm our lands and to have access to clean drinking water.