Foundation aims to empower women in agriculture

Eunice Jelly straining herbal leaves to make soap.

EUNICE Jelly is an accomplished herbal soap maker and a leading light in the Foundation of Women in Agriculture Development (FOWIAD).
Like many other families in Wora, Eunice supports her family from the sale of garden produce and sun dried coconut that is pressed to produce virgin oil and this is blended with extracts from traditional herb leaves to make soap.  The soaps are then sold to the Foundation of Women in Agriculture Development Cooperative for K2 each, fetching up to K200-K250 from 20 kg of dried coconut, that’s much more than the dried coconut would sell for without this expert processing which Eunice learnt in an earlier AusAID project.

Eunice lives in Wora village located in the lush green plains of the Sepik’s Wosera-Gawi with her husband and 10 children. It is an hour’s walk by foot from Hayfield a former mission station and the Maprik District commonly known as Central Sepik.

Wora, like most Sepik communities, is still deeply patriarchal.  ‘Big-man culture’ is very much alive today as it has been for generations; women continue to be the ‘beast of burden’ while men are the voice. 

This is the barrier that Monica Otto, the Executive Director of the Foundation of Women in Agriculture Development (FOWIAD) wants to break by gradually changing minds and setting a positive example.

It is strong progressive women like Eunice that are the driving force behind FOWIAD and with her help and that of hundreds like her, the organisation has even bigger plans.  Executive Director, Monica Otto, wants to set up a fresh food facility (a cool room at Hayfield) so that women farmers can be trained on how to minimize perishable food wastage.  This will change their lives, allowing them to access the commodity markets in Maprik, Wewak and other centres where they can get much higher prices for their produce.

Monica is now some steps closer to seeing this become a reality after FOWIAD signed a deed, for AusAID funding of K402,794, to set up a facility that will consist of a cool-room and freezer combo fitted out with stainless steel benches and washing facilities.  This will allow the women to clean, process and package a wide range of food items, which will then be sent for sale in local markets.   Funding for this life-changing project will be made available through the AusAID funded Strongim Pipol Strongim Nesen program’s medium and large grant scheme.

So far progress is good.  During a monitoring trip by SPSN officers in October 2012, concrete foundations for the building were just being completed and all the required materials had been purchased.

The FOWIAD group have made a K21,000 contribution toward the total cost of the project and have the backing of local youths who are involved in building the facility under the supervision of Bernard Kugbus, a landowner and local carpenter who is renowned in the area for his fine work. 

Bernard is very excited about the project:  “Adrenaline and enthusiasm are already high; this project is keeping these young men busy. Previously many were troublemakers who just wasted their time, often getting involved with home-brew and drugs.  Now they are really motivated, they’ve even formed a soccer squad so even when they’re not at work, they’re still a team”.

“Everyone is getting behind the project,” says Monica Otto.   “The women who come to sell their dried coconut for soap are also bringing vegetables to help feed the workforce”.

“This is what we want to see happening, women working together to make things better.  Soon they will have the knowledge and facilities to process their raw produce into forms that give a much better price.  Then they will really have the power to make some changes in their own lives and the lives of their communities.   Strong, resourceful, hard-working women like Eunice are our inspiration and purpose”.

Workmen adding finishing touches to the concrete based for the cool room under the supervision of Bernard Kugbus(in red).

Editors Note:

FOWIAD has a strong established network of over 5,000 members in Central Sepik with successful projects which are driven by the communities. These include Community Notice Board information centres, coconut downstream processing, agriculture small livestock development and grass roots youth sports - these projects have all been supported by AusAID through its other Initiatives.