Hawabai: Climate-smart agriculture is the way to go

Dar es Salaam. In her position in a state-owned bank, Hawabai Abdulla has developed a passion of promoting impactful and sustainable projects focusing on climate-smart agriculture.

The green financing enthusiast Hawabai works with the Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) as a senior business development officer.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography and Environmental Studies and currently pursues project management professional certificate while eyeing to master in sustainable financing. At TADB, she leads the Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) unit. It is an integrated approach to agricultural development aimed at addressing the intertwined challenges of food security and climate change.

According to her, the CSA targets three key objectives, namely, sustainably increasing agricultural productivity to support equitable productivity in farm incomes, food and nutrition security and development.

Adapting and building resilience of people and food systems to climate change and where possible, reducing greenhouse (GHG) emissions from agriculture. “I grew up having a purpose and devoted to promote impactful and sustainable socio-economic development,” she says. “We cannot speak about sustainable development without talking about the effects of climate change. I studied climate change at university, so I’m well informed and that is one of the drivers leading the roles I’m playing now,” says Hawabai.

“I’m profoundly proud to be part of a team that values and believes in young talents and women to lead. TADB provides a conducive working environment that nurtures growth of its female staff, creating and enhancing equal opportunities for every team member to excel and deliver at their fullest competence and potential,” narrates Hawabai.

Adding to that she says: “It is a privilege to be working at a workplace where the head of the institution, despite being a man, encourages and ensures women in their numbers are among key decision-makers in the Boardroom.”

Commenting about TADB’s commitment to growth of agriculutre, she says, with the government support and commitment towards adopting CSA for sustainable agricultural development TADB is designing and developing relevant, suitable CSA and Agro-Ecological products that will financially facilitate and enable farmers to shift from traditional agricultural practices to adopt sustainable CSA practices.

She further says, TADB is working closely with development partners with the aim of furthering efforts to promote CSA practice to the farm and the entire value chain. This will also focus on vulnerable groups and their roles in the country.

According to her, the bank is also developing women products that will facilitate and provide loans to women farmers at lowest interest rates to cater for their financial requirements. The bank also has a guarantee scheme and it provides up to 50 percent guarantee to loans that are provided to their partner banks.

“We also have irrigation development programme schemes that different huge number of women associations are involved in and we provide credit to ensure there is efficiency in our water usage and sustainability in the agriculture productivity,” she says.

“The bank recognises the vulnerability and role of women in agricultural production. The bank has in plan to develop CSA products specialised and tailored to cater for and facilitate the needs of women farmers and the sustainability of their agricultural activities under the changing climate,” she adds.

Affirming her belief in women and girls, she says these are effective and powerful leaders and change-makers that the world needs today for a sustainable tomorrow especially in issues pertaining to the ever changing climate people live in. Given equal opportunities and be equal players in decision-making for climate adaptation and mitigation and sustainability realising true and actual sustainable development becomes inevitable.

Commenting on the status of agriculture in Tanzania in connection to women and climate change, she says: “As the source of livelihood for approximately 65.0 percent of the Tanzanian population, agriculture remains central to Tanzania’s economic development (FYDP III) with a significant number of the population employed in the sector are women”.

“As climate change continues to have severe and lasting impacts on our environment and our socio-economic development, the agriculture sector experiences the deepest impacts and remains to be the most affected and women are increasingly being recognised as more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change than men,” she tells The Citizen’s Rising Woman Initiative.

“Enhancing equal opportunities to productive resources and the economic empowerment of women farmers through climate-smart agriculture is becoming ever more critical to achieve equitable sustainable agricultural and rural development,” says Hawabai.

Commenting on the few women in leadership position she says, the perception that women belong to the kitchen or in the farm but not in the office due to customs contributes to low numbers of women leaders. She believes no enough efforts have been put in place to equip women with enough skills to allow women take up these positions.

“Despite the fact that women are glorified to be multitaskers, and we have high integrity etc I strongly believe women have lesser confidence than men especially when it comes to stepping up and taking leadership roles. We need to step out of that bubble and realize super powers within us and we are capable of taking these leadership roles,” adds Hawabai.

She believes that in supporting women to move forward they have showed a way already as for majority of women leading big companies there is a support from men. It is just a matter of women being ready and prove that we can do it.

Sharing her three advice to embrace and celebrate their uniqueness as it a super power, to be confident and believe one can be anything if you put her mind, determination and consistency in whatever is doing.

For more on this interview watch full video on our MwananchiDigital