Street Beat – South African Women Farmers

Outside of Cape Town, South Africa, black women farmers say they've reached a point of desperation. They are hungry, they can't feed their children, and they contend with exploitation, discrimination and sexual abuse at the hands of both male farm owners and even husbands. The unemployed women farmers who formed the Rawsonville Women's Agricultural Cooperative say farm work has been in their families for generations, and they've prepared to run farms independently. But despite a government plan that includes rural women in land reform initiatives, the Rawsonville Co-Op says the government is stonewalling their efforts to run and manage their own land. For our regular segment Street Beat, we'll hear from Fatima, Wendy and Maria, some of the farmers who occupied a piece of farmland earlier this week – recorded by Athini Melane.

Click here for newscast for Thursday, August 14, 2008