BKMC Annual Report 2023

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The climate crisis perpetuates structural inequalities,
meaning women and girls face limited rights to
land, resources, and decision-making spaces. With
the EVWA Campaign, the BKMC uses a two-fold
approach to respond to these challenges: the EVWA
Changemakers Campaign and the EVWA Council.
©BKMC - Digital Creative Media / Njieforti Princewill Gana, Founder and CEO of Sustain Afric and 2023 EVWA Champion.
ELEVATING THE VOICES OF WOMEN
IN AGRICULTURE
Goal:
Raise global awareness of women farmers’
realities in Africa by giving global visibility to
innovative projects of young changemakers,
reward an exceptional changemaker with
financial support, and develop actionable policy
briefs fostering women farmers’ empowerment.
Key Partners:
Royal DSM
Since its launch in April 2022, the BKMC’s “EVWA
Campaign – Elevating the Voices of Women in
Agriculture” has continued to raise global awareness
of women farmers’ experienced realities and
to showcase policy and grassroots actions that
contribute to their empowerment.
Women account for nearly half of the world’s
smallholder farmers. In Africa, they produce 70% of
the continent’s food. Even though they play a key
role in Africa’s food security, gender inequality and
the climate crisis pose disproportionate barriers for
women smallholder farmers, making them the most
vulnerable members of the farming community.
On International Rural Women’s Day, 15 th October, the
BKMC kicked off the annual EVWA Changemakers
Campaign, which recognizes and gives a platform to
exceptional young African leaders under 30 years old
and their projects contributing to women’s farmers’
access to land, resources, finance, skills, and inputs.
Through the BKMC’s website and social media
channels, 20 changemakers and their projects
from 10 African countries received global visibility.
One EVWA Changemaker with an outstanding
innovative, impactful, and inspiring project is
awarded the title of EVWA Champion 2023. This year,
©BKMC - Digital Creative Media / Snails from 2023 EVWA Champion
Njieforti Princewill Gana’s snail farming organization.
©BKMC / screenshot from the first EVWA Council meeting.
Njieforti Princewill Gana and his organization
“SustainAfric” won the EVWA Champion 2023 award
along with seed funding and the production of a
multi-media documentary.
Widow farmers in particular struggle to provide food
and education for their children and families, as their
properties and land are often confiscated by their inlaws.
To tackle this issue, Gana and his organization
in collaboration with the Widows Association of Tiko
Subdivision, Cameroon, train widows in snail farming.
The women learn how to use the shells, feces, slime,
and flesh of African Giant Snails to create delicacies,
food for animals, cosmetics, and manure for crops.
So far, SustainAfric has trained 350 women in the
Subdivision of Tiko, Cameroon.
In addition, the BKMC strengthened its advocacy work
with the EVWA Council. Composed of 11 high-level
experts from academia, international organizations,
NGOs, and governmental representatives, the EVWA
Council works with women smallholder farmers, and
young changemakers to address the challenges
of accessing land, resources, and leadership. The
BKMC and the EVWA Council will publish the policy
recommendations throughout 2024 culminating in
an official launch.
Scan the QR code to read the
details of Gana’s project and watch
the documentary supported by
the BKMC.
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