Raising Voices: The life of women in drug crop cultivation areas

What is known about the lives of women in drug crop cultivation areas? What experience and skills do they have and how can these be used to improve the lives of smallholder families? The new publication "Raising Voices: Empowering female farmers in drug crop cultivation areas" summarizes the experiences and stories of affected female small farmers and aims to encourage political decision-makers and implementing organizations to include them in their development-oriented drug programmes.

It is the result of the first supra-regional exchange of experiences between female small farmers, which took place in Mexico in 2018. The meeting was organized by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) together with the Global Drug Policy Program of the Open Society Foundations in order to better understand the situation of women in drug crop cultivation areas.

Illicit drug crops are often cultivated in remote rural areas in developing countries, characterized by poverty, food insecurity, conflict and weak state structures. In their communities, women perform diverse and responsible tasks, yet they are often victims of discrimination. Social norms and practices prevent women from being actively involved in economic and political decision-making processes. Every day they have to cope with the negative consequences of the illicit drug economy. However, the stories and experiences of these women are rarely told.

If their knowledge and skills are used, development-oriented drug programmes can respond better and more sustainably to the needs of those affected and achieve greater impact. Women are a strong pillar of rural communities and their voices need to be heard. Only then, sustainable development can be achieved.