Women Who Inspire: 5 stories of strength and resilience

This Rural Women's Day, we invite you to discover the remarkable stories of five rural women who have transformed their lives, families, and communities with the support of IFAD. These women, through their resilience and ambition, show us the power of investing in women, and how that investment creates ripple effects of prosperity for generations to come. 

Women + investment = exponential returns 

Investing in women is the surest way to prosperity – and a world without hunger. 

Closing the gender gap in farming would lift 45 million people out of food insecurity. 

And when rural women are empowered, so are their families and communities.  

That’s why IFAD invests in women – and why more than half of our project participants are women. 

They’re the smartest investment in a sustainable future. 

Insaf, the Syrian Seamstress 

As a child, Insaf Refai was a skilled seamstress. When the single mother of four fled to northwest Jordan with her family in 2012, she realised that her childhood hobby was the only means she could provide for her children. 

But she faced a dilemma: she had left her sewing machine in Syria. 

As more family members joined her in Jordan, they brought with them pieces of the sewing machine. 

Insaf eventually reassembled it and started sewing at her house, earning just enough to meet her household needs. But soon these needs grew alongside her children. 

Thanks to an IFAD grant and training on business management and e-marketing, she is now running her own sewing workshop and is renowned locally for her colourful dresses and precise tailoring. 

Her business is booming, and with profits growing fivefold after receiving the grant , Insaf has hired a skilled Syrian neighbour to help fulfil her many orders.  

Edinah, the Zambian Livestock Farmer 

Edinah Musowe is a single mother supporting 24 family members. The onset of COVID-19 made her situation even more challenging, as buyers could no longer afford her goats. 

But with two chickens from an IFAD supported project, Edinah diversified her income by starting a small chicken farm. 

Her farm has expanded to 26 chickens, two turkeys, and a few goats. Now, her ten grandchildren can afford to go to school, and her entire family has enough to thrive. 

Sajeda, the Bangladeshi Flower Grower 

With few economic opportunities, Sajeda Begum once depended on her husband to survive. 

That was until she and seven friends in northern Bangladesh took a gamble by growing a crop that was new to their region: tulips. 

Sajeda and her friends received 40,000 tulip bulbs through an IFAD supported project. After grading, cutting and packaging the flowers, they are sent to Dhaka for sale. In less than a year, the farmers have made over US$ 9,000. 

As the tulips bloomed, so did the local economy. Having spotted the tulip fields on social media, tourists began flocking to the picturesque place, generating business for local restaurants and accommodation. 

Within a few months, tourist numbers grew from 50 to 600 a day. Both the entrance fee to the tulip garden and flower orders can be paid using mobile money transfer and mobile banking, with many customers placing orders on WhatsApp and Messenger. 

Beatrice, the Ghanaian Soap-Maker 

After Beatrice Arthur’s parents died, she was forced to drop out of school in Ghana. 

Because of her disability, she found it hard to move around. She did odd jobs but barely earned enough to survive. 

Like Beatrice, many persons with disabilities face barriers to accessing education, training and employment. For women with disabilities, those barriers are even higher. This is especially true in rural areas, where the agriculture sector is the main employer, and most jobs require physical labour of some kind.  

In 2009, Beatrice participated in a soapmaking course offered through an IFAD-supported programme. After completing the training, she received a credit of 2,000 cedi, which she invested in starting a soap factory that now employs 15 people and generates a monthly profit of US$120. Moreover, 40 people have started their own soap businesses after being trained by Beatrice. 

Celmira, the Peruvian Indigenous Leader 

Celmira is a coffee producer in Peru 's San Martín region, where she is the president of the Pacaypite Women Entrepreneurs Association. Her association has contributed significantly to the improvement of her community's quality of life, enhancing the role of Awajún women and drawing on their ancestral knowledge to preserve the area's biodiversity. 

When the pandemic put her community in crisis, with rising fertilizer prices and decreasing sales, her association worked together with families to build back while protecting the natural environment.  

With the support of an IFAD-funded program, they are now producing enough organic fertilizer for 45 hectares of coffee plantations. This reduces methane emissions from rotting waste, improves the soil and reduces the need for harmful chemical fertilizers. 

These five women may live in opposite corners of the world, but they all have one thing in common: they’re living proof that women are the best investment in our future. 

Do you know a rural woman who has brought positive change to her community? Share her inspiring story with us in the comments below!