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Women in International Development in Africa
(Special Event)
During the summer of 2008, Kellyn Montgomery, a graduate student in Geography and Laura Zseleczky, senior in Sociology and Women's Studies, traveled to two different regions of Africa to pursue their fields of interest and learn more about the issues affecting women in these areas.
Women make up the majority of food production in Sub-Saharan Africa; therefore, an understanding of women's issues is critical for the success of agriculture development projects such as the Integrated Pest Management Collaborative Research Support Program (IPM CRSP) which is managed by Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech geography graduate student Kellyn Montgomery conducted her research in Uganda during July and August 2008. She sought to determine what problems women famers face in the rural Sub-County of Busukuma, in adopting the farming practices recommended by the IPM CRSP for improving tomato production. Gender-specific constraints exist that make adopting IPM more costly and time-consuming for women. For instance, it is not socially acceptable for women to operate bicycles; this makes tasks such as fetching water or getting produce to market very time-consuming.
After the apartheid system ended in 1994, South Africa emerged as a major economic and political power on the African continent and within the international community. However, the system of institutionalized racial separation left a legacy of social, political, and economic inequality which continues to be a salient issue, especially in the lives of women. Laura Zseleczky, undergraduate student in Sociology and Women's Studies, traveled to South Africa for five weeks in May and June 2008 to volunteer at a daycare center in Langa, one of Cape Town's surrounding townships. During her stay, she observed the everyday activities of women and children living in the townships and the inequalities they face.
Please share this information widely, and encourage others to attend.
We look forward to seeing you there.
This presentation is part of the OIRED Women in International Development Discussion Group.
For more information check our website http://www.oired.vt.edu/wid/ or contact Dr. Maria Elisa Christie, mechristie@vt.edu or (540) 231-4297.
More information...
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(540) 231-4297