With support from ActionAid International Malawi, women in the northern region of Malawi, have  managed to establish a formidable movement called Coalition of Women Farmers (COFWA)  whose goal is to advocate for women’s  rights to food with access, ownership and control over land as an entry point. COWFA has managed to empower most women on how they can claim and demand for their land rights.

Control over farm land in most districts in the north favors men.  This is mainly due to the culture of ‘lobola’ (dowry) where a woman is only allowed to inherit land through her husband or her male child. Lobola is mainly practiced by Tumbuka tribe which is highly patriarchal with women exposed to various forms of violence such as denial of women’s rights on access to and control over empowering and emancipating resources.

According to ‘lobola’, a suitor “jaha” gives an agreed amount of cattle or an equivalent of cash to the family of the bride to be “nthombi”. This provides wealth to her family which she leaves to becomes part of her husband’s people.  Her place in the family is occupied by another woman married into the family. The women in the process become part of a strange family where they have no say on anything let alone distribution of land or which crops to grow.

In the event of divorce or death, the woman is sent back to her maiden home where she is expected  to rent a piece of land in her own home. For many years most women and girls have been exposed to such dehumanizing conditions that undermine their rights to access land after divorce or the husband’s death.

It is for this reason that hunger in the region has worn a female face as women are the ones seen hunting for food when food shortage affects the family. There is a huge outcry from the women on the need for the culture of ‘lobola’ revisited so that it also begins to provide women a chance of owning their own piece of land. 

Nellipie Mtete a mother of Seven Children and four grand children from Traditional authority Chikulamayembe in Rumphi bears witness to Gondwe’s sentiment.  Mtete narrates  her story on how she has been empowered by COWFA after her brother in-law tried to seize 36 hectares of land left by her husband;

“When my husband died I was helpless and hopeless because my brother in law wanted to grab all my property (land, house and other belongings)” she starts her narration. 

Mtete says she heard that ActionAid was in the area and addressing issues of land ownership by women. “After attending the sensitization meetings on women’s land rights I became more empowered and started following up the issue,” she explains.

Mtete says the meeting prompted her to approach Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe where she narrated her story. who later referred her to the District Assembly and ended up at the Court. With Chief Chikulamayembe’s support and COWFA, Mtete won the case.

“Many thanks to Action aid; I have managed to harvest 6000 kgs of tobacco and 12500 kgs of maize. Being a widow, I now have enough food and enough money to support my family,” she proudly concluded her story whilst picking the biggest cob of maize from her 2008 harvest.