Youth in Action: Better Life

In this episode, Catherine Mloza Banda, a member of the WFF Young Scientists Group, sheds light on the invisible contributions of young women in agrifood systems and why recognition is key to empowerment. Tune in to learn how communication, inclusion, and opportunity can help shape a more equitable and resilient future. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hello and welcome to the World Food Forum podcast and our Youth in Action series where we explore how young people are contributing to agriculture systems transformation. My name is Alexandra. I'll be your host. In this series, we focus on one of the FAO's four vectors: better production, better nutrition, better environment, and a better life. A framework that guides our global efforts towards more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient agricultural. Throughout this series, we highlight the work and perspectives of the World Food Forum Young Scientist Group, a global network of early career researchers bringing forward innovative, science-based solutions that help bridge the gap between research, policy, and action. In the final episode, we turn to Better Life, explore how equity, empowerment, and decent work shape livelihoods across underfoot systems. And why recognizing the contributions of young people, especially young women, is essential for building a more inclusive and sustainable future. We are joined by Catherine, whose work focuses on often overlooked and unrecognized roles of young women in upper food systems. Her research brings the light on the issues such as unpaid work care, access to education, pathways to decent employment, all critical factors in achieving meaningful empowerment and long-term resilience. Let's dive in. Hello, Catherine. Welcome to our World Food Forum podcast, and thank you so much for joining us today. And it's a real pleasure to have you here with us. And as a member of the World Food Forum's Young Scientist Group and contributing to uh to better life dimension, which focuses on reducing rural inequalities, improving livelihoods, and building resilience for inclusive agri-food system, your work uh really highlights the link between science, policy, and people's everyday lives. So, to start off, your recent work actually sheds a light on the often invisible contributions of young women in the agri-food system. So, why is making this work visible such an important first step towards empowerment?

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Um, thank you, Alexandra. Uh, visibility is such a powerful step in empowerment because uh, first and foremost, what is unseen is rarely valued, counted, or supported. Um, now in agri-food systems, much of young women's work takes place takes place in informal, uh unpaid, and even underpaid spaces. So that is on family farms and processing, trading, and household-based activities, where you find that um it is essential to link those small, small activities um to food security. But you'd find that even though you're able to link those to food security, they're excluded from the bigger, uh bigger picture uh policy, investment, and decision making. Um, so making uh women's work visible does three critical things. Firstly, it challenges dominant narratives that overlook young women as economic actors. Um so uh if you're able to make uh uh to make their work visible, it then allows them to be a critical asset or to see them as a critical uh function to the macro picture, policy, investment, trade, yeah. And so being able to collect data um that would fill in those gaps and also that presents evidence of the visibility, sorry, that presents evidence of the contribution of young women to agri food systems, it becomes harder for institutions to ignore the inequalities that are there and that exist. Secondly, making young women's work uh visible also legitimizes their roles in the communities. Uh, they always often say that a prophet is not honored in his own town. Yeah. And that is because, you know, uh there are things that people would do every day that uh would be invisible. Um, but when you bring that or when you make it visible, it then legitimizes the role or their contribution to the to their immediate setting. So um this um strengthens women's bargaining power within households, within uh value chains, and it would enable women in turn to negotiate their returns, to claim resources and even participate meaningfully in leadership and governance spaces in their communities. And thirdly, visibility creates accountability. Um, I like this point uh so much because once you're able to acknowledge uh the contribution that someone's made someone makes or that a critical sector makes, you can be able to create or design more inclusive uh systems and structures that allow them to function to their best. Yeah. So uh once we're able to make young women's work visible, it helps for governments to be more accountable to these young women, for development partners, to design more programs, more policies, and even for private sector actors to make more investments that respond to their realities rather than working on assumptions. So, in a sense, visibility is more like a conduit, yeah? It's more like um a means uh to an end, not an end in itself for people to see that, oh, they are young women, um, and this is what they do. But then, okay, what is it that we can do to help them and also to make their burden more easier? How can we build their voices, agency, and even uh structural change? Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 6:03

Thank you so much for that. I think uh actually it really highlights how making young women's contributions visible is not just about uh recognition, but it's about ensuring that their work is fully integrated in data, policy, and decision-making processes. So it's uh it's for sure a really powerful reminder that visibility, as you said, drives both accountability and investment. But building on that, your paper also connects education, decent work, and empowerment. So, could you share a concrete example where these elements actually come together to create a meaningful change for young women in agri-food systems?

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Yeah, thank you. Um, so I would like to think of myself as a real world classical example of the intersection between education, decent work, and empowerment. Coming from an African setting, we all know that girls who eventually become young women face a lot of barriers in accessing quality education. Yeah. Nevertheless, my parents believed in providing a good education, um, in spite of the fact that they had girls only, um, because I come from you know a family where we're just girls. So my education did definitely help me to acquire a decent job. Um, and I'm very empowered, I feel empowered to pursue my goals and my aspirations. Now, um having been educated, having a decent job, and uh being an empowered woman who is able to make decisions more based on agency than circumstance. Yeah, um, I am also very motivated to be able to uh provide the same or to pass that on uh to my children who coincidentally are also all girls. So I now have three girls of my own. Um, and I'm very particular about things like hygiene, about nutrition, uh, because these are things I've learned and things I know I want, you know, to be able to pass on into my family or to see in my family so that I'm able to um be part of a positive statistic, you know. Um, yeah, so I would like to also provide for them a good education so that they can also form the next generation of empowered women. So I think um educating a young girl doesn't only have an impact on the current, but also the next. And um I digress. Um, I'm a very chatty person. So let me allow me to digress for a bit. Yesterday um I was making cupcakes with my first uh daughter, she's five, going on six. Now um we were trying, I let her lead the entire process. I was just coming in because I was also prepping dinner. And um I when she was now trying to pour the batter into the cupcake, you know, it can get really messy. And it did start to get messy. And for a moment, I wanted to step in to say, um, can I do it? Because um, you know, as a mom, you want perfection. Um, but for some reason I said, you know what? Um let me step back and allow her to do this. Um as a parent, I think even, you know, being educated and being empowered, you know, you're able to now start to make even judgment cause that if you were in a different circumstance, you wouldn't ordinarily do it because there's an issue of waste there, you know, and all that. But I was like, you know what, let me let me allow her to do it. And the cupcakes, I didn't wipe anything, I just chucked them into the oven. You know, 20 minutes later, I take them out. These cupcakes came out so nice, they came out so beautiful. Um, and it was a big lesson for me. I was actually laughing with my other sister to say, you know what? Um I would like to build uh a generation of girls uh that is empowered, you know, that is given the space to figure themselves out. Because things will get figured out um at the end. Yeah, so um I do think, you know, just being able not only for young women, but even the girls as we are bringing them up, uh, to give them spaces to empower themselves, to build their own confidence, to figure things out. Yeah, and hopefully as they grow into young women, uh, they will be able to figure themselves out. And yeah, definitely things will arrange themselves, the universe will somehow conspire. Yeah, let me stop there. Let me stop.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

That's a that's a really beautiful example. It really actually shows how empowerment uh begins in everyday moments, no, like beer making a cupcake. So I think having this space where you uh you created for young uh for your daughters to to learn and and to lead, super, super powerful. So it really reflects um exactly what kind of of let's say of confidence you want to grow uh over time. And as we know, international uh year of women farmers feels really relevant uh about these uh early experiences actually that uh shape the next generation of um of women leaders, right? So now with uh with the International Year of Women Farmers, that it's um underway, what impact do you hope this global initiative will have for young women, particularly in uh those agri-food systems?

SPEAKER_00 11:39

Yeah, uh going back to what we're talking about earlier, that visibility um just goes beyond uh making people see, uh, but for them to for it to lead to action. So I'm hoping uh that uh this the impact of this campaign would be for governments, development partners, and definitely private sector actors to invest more in designing inclusive policies, programs, and also more awareness and acknowledgement around the enormous contribution that young women make and really just conversations about how we can be able to ease the burden of young women and to promote them so that they're also able to benefit from the contributions that they make.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Good point again that visibility is actually turning into action and uh encouraging, super encouraging to hear that the focus is uh not only awareness, as you said, but the driving the real investment and more inclusive policies uh across sectors. So I've also uh you also described unpaid work as hidden leadership. So, how can uh uh associates begin to better recognize and value this kind of contribution in a more tangible way?

SPEAKER_00 13:02

Yeah, um, yeah, definitely, definitely hidden leadership. Um uh because you know, unpaid care work sustains households, communities, and um entire economies, yet it operates outside formal recognition and reward systems. Um, so valuing it requires a deliberate shift from how societies define productivity, leadership, and even economic contribution. So, um, how can society start valuing that work differently? So, firstly, and paid care work must be measured and be made visible through data. So, definitely um having timely service, gender responsive statistics, and even national accounts that recognize care as an economic activity can help to expose its scale. So, not just its scale, but also its value. So, what is counted definitely always influences what is prioritized. Yeah. Um, and also, you know, that also goes into national decision making. If you're able to count something, you quantify it, then you can prioritize it in policy and in budgeting. So definitely care work being made visible uh through data. So being measured and made visible through data. Secondly, societies should be able to redistribute care responsibilities equitably. So this means investing in public services like childcare, elder care, water, energy, and transport, um, just you know, to be able to reduce the time and the physical burden of care, as well as promoting norms and policies that encourage men's participation in uh in care work. Then, thirdly, and paid care work should be recognized and rewarded through social protection and labor policies. So measures such as paid parental leave, um, caregiver allowances, pensions, flexible work arrangements. They acknowledge care as socially valuable labor rather than a private obligation borne mainly by women. As I'm speaking, I have like a million examples that are just popping in my mind, but I want to get through my points. Uh so finally, reframing care as leadership, that's very essential as well. So, care work involves decision making, coordination, resilience, long-term thinking. Um, and those are all core leadership competencies. Allow me to just digress again. I read somewhere that um leadership is one of the most misunderstood uh human experiences. So there are a lot of misunderstood human experiences, and apparently leadership is one of them, which I agree because we feel like um leadership is more masculine and involves uh lording over. But you find that and paid care work is more hidden leadership, and it is very powerful because you know there's a lot of decision making, long-term thinking, coordination that you need to do, um, especially for a house that's that has an elderly person, young kids, you need to make sure that everything is coordinated, everyone is happy, everyone is healthy, everyone is clothed, you know, and that's is it's not child's play. It really takes a lot of thinking. Um, so when society is able to recognize these skills and translate them into pathways, for civic participation, economic opportunity, and even leadership roles, you find that unpaid care work moves from the margin and comes into the center of development uh discourse. So therefore, uh valuing unpaid care work differently is not only a gender issue, but it's more structural, economic, but also a social uh transformation.

SPEAKER_01 16:46

Thank you so much. Such a powerful reframing, seeing the care work not as something secondary, but as a form of leadership that really challenges deeply rooted perceptions. So I think it highlights the complexity and strategic thinking involved, and it helps shift the narrative toward more inclusive understanding of leadership. But talking about young women in agri-food system, is there anything that you would like to tell them?

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Yeah, yeah. Um, yeah, uh, thank you. So I think the message I would like to share is this your lived experience is not a limitation. It is your leadership asset. So the knowledge you gain from working in the fields, in the markets, the households, community networks, it gives you a system-level understanding of food and agriculture that most formal leaders lack. Yeah. So start by claiming your identity as an economic and an agricultural actor, even if your work is informal or unpaid. Leadership does not begin with a title, it begins with recognizing the value of what you already do and articulating it with confidence. So seek out spaces. Um, there are a lot of cooperatives, producer groups, youth networks, digital platforms. Seek out those spaces where your voice can be strengthened collectively, not in isolation. At the same time, there is a need to invest in skills, skills that expand your influence. So financial literacy, digital tools, negotiation, advocacy, these skills help to translate effort into income, visibility, and decision-making power. Do not wait for permission to lead, and also do not carry the burden alone. So, alliances, collectiveness, that's very critical. And finally, remember that leadership in food and agriculture is about shaping the future of how societies eat, work, and care for the land. So your perspectives matter precisely because it is rooted in resilience, in care, and in lived realities. Step forward knowing that the system needs your leadership, even if it has not yet fully recognized it. Yeah, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

Thank you so much for sharing your insights and for such a thoughtful and inspiring conversation. It was a real uh pleasure uh speaking with you, Catherine.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

Thank you so much. Um, this topic is really close to my home, uh to my heart, rather, uh, because yes, I'm a young woman who works in agriculture, who has a family, who does a ton of unpaid care work, and realized that you know what? I'm a very good leader. So we're actually having that conversation. Yeah, we're actually having that conversation last week about how um managing you know a family is very uh critical leadership for a woman. Um, and it's like it's like a huge thing. Only that uh, especially in African settings, we do not realize our care work as leadership. We look at it as service. Um, but what is leadership if it's not service, you know? So yeah, this is a very interesting topic and very close to my heart.