Scarcity Hits Hardest On The Women of Africa

"A man can never sit at home. They are always out somewhere," Lingani said. "They don't do anything. They don't help." (from article)

With very little work and very little pay, the women in Africa are left to feed their families. Meanwhile, they barely have any food left to feed themselves. The men believe that it is a woman's role to feed the family while the men got out to work. This is very common in the African culture.

'Zorome, Lingani's husband, said that men don't help with shopping and cooking because "that is the job of women." Like many men interviewed here, he said African culture clearly defines roles for men, who work outside the house, and women, who manage children and meals.' (from article)

Msnbc.com/Washington Post's 3 page article tells the story of a woman named Fanta Lingani and her struggle to take care of her family.

Here's an excerpt-
"Mealtime conspires against women-
In poor West African nations such as Burkina Faso, mealtime conspires against women. They grow the food, fetch the water, shop at the market and cook the meals. But when it comes time to eat, men and children eat first, and women eat last and least.

Soaring prices for food and fuel have pushed more than 130 million poor people across vast swaths of Africa, Asia and Latin America deeper into poverty in the past year, according to the U.N. World Food Program. But while millions of men and children are also hungrier, women are the hungriest and skinniest. Aid workers call malnutrition among women one of the most notable hidden consequences of the food crisis.

"It's a cultural thing," said Hervé Kone, director of a group that promotes development, social justice and human rights in Burkina Faso. "When the kids are hungry, they go to their mother, not their father. And when there is less food, women are the first to eat less."

A recent study by the aid group Catholic Relief Services found that many people in Burkina Faso are now spending 75 percent or more of their income on food, leaving little for other basic needs.

Pregnant women and young mothers are forgoing medical care. More women are turning to prostitution to pay for food. And more families are pulling children -- especially girls -- out of school, unable to afford fees and clothes.

But perhaps the most pervasive effect of the growing global crisis is the ache in the stomachs of millions of poor women such as Fanta Lingani. "



To read the full article click at the link above!