Empowering women has become a global priority as societies recognise the immense potential and contribution that women bring to the table and the struggle for gender equality persists.

This is particularly so for rural areas, where women face numerous challenges, which hinder their empowerment. Rural women are the backbone of Samoa's agriculture, producing over 80 per cent of the food on small farms. While 40 per cent of women working in subsistence agriculture are below the basic needs poverty line [BNPL], in northwest Upolu, the rate is higher, with 70 per cent of women below the BNLP, according to a press release issued on Saturday by the Women in Leadership in Samoa (WILS) Project.

On 15 October every year, Samoa together with the world celebrates International Day for Rural Women with the theme for this year,  "Financing for rural women’s empowerment – celebrating and honouring the role that rural women and girls play in the food systems of the world". From the production of crops to processing, preparing, and distributing foods, women’s labour – paid and unpaid – feed their families, communities and the world.

As the cost-of-living crisis continues to increase and intensifies gender disparities globally, less than 15 per cent of landholders worldwide are women, leading to an increase in the gender gap in food security. Women – particularly rural women – are already disproportionately affected by poverty, climate change, food insecurity and poor access to healthcare, stated the WILS press release. This has affected women generally, but especially rural women and recognising these challenges is vital in devising effective financing mechanisms that address the unique needs of rural women.

The Markets for Change project under UN Women together with the Government of Samoa will be hosting a celebration from 16–20 October 2023. In its efforts to promote gender equality, through the economic empowerment of women market vendors in Samoa, this is by supporting and implementing the Getting Started Workshop. 

The workshop is delivered by utilising a toolkit used for early planning with market vendors, farmers, and their representatives to form a market vendor association as there is currently none active in Samoa.  The planned activity includes working with the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development (M.W.C.S.D.) to support the formation or reactivation of inclusive MVAs, including through getting started workshops, leadership training, and assessments of existing MVAs.

Through the successful delivery of this workshop, the trainers are equipped with the essential skills for training and mentoring the market vendors with the aim to empower and strengthen their voice in the marketplaces and in their daily lives through the establishment of Market Vendor Associations (MVA).  

This will directly strengthen market management, local government, and the policy environment will enable more gender-responsive, transparent, and accountable decision-making processes and improved framework conditions, and help give voice to women market vendors in arenas that affect their lives those of market goers.  

The Markets for Change project promotes gender equality through the economic empowerment of women market vendors in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. It brings together governments, market vendors and market vendor associations, civil society organisations and UN agencies. M4C is implemented by UN Women in partnership with UNDP and the governments of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.