Making Their Voices Count: The African Women Protecting Their Land Rights

Sep 10, 2019 | Philippine Sutz
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Ashura Juma Mnaula lives in the village of Marumbo in Tanzania. The divorced 38-year-old has three children and, like many women in her community, looks to the land to help her support her family. In 2008 a British firm called Sun Biofuels acquired 8,200 hectares of land nearby. Though the venture soon failed, the land passed to another company and remains unavailable. Villagers were not told that a land deal with Sun Biofuels would mean they could not use this long-held local land to burn charcoal or collect firewood, or even enter the area. If they did, they risked arrest.