Big Break for Farming Women as President Gives Them Right to Own Land

Women’s rights get a boost in Botswana where President Mokgweetsi Masisi declared that wives are now equaled to their husbands in terms of land ownership, be it on a state or tribal land.

“The Botswana Land Policy 2015 was discriminatory against married women and did not give them equal treatment with men, and I am happy to report that this discriminatory sub-section has since been repealed,” says President Masisi. “This amendment will allow women to be independent in marriages, and also have rights to land as any other person. We applaud this move,” said women rights activist Tunah Moalosi.

Even though most African and Asian farmers are women, only 15% of them are landowners. According to the Botswana authorities, 53% of the 620,660 people waiting to be allotted land are women. This change in the policy allows married women but also widows and single mothers to own the land where they live and work.