Talk took place in April 2022
Malin Rosenkvist is an international development expert and passionate advocate for gender equality. She has a degree in International Politics and Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
As the Director of Fundraising and Communications at MicroLoan Foundation, Malin is working to alleviate poverty and empower women living in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe to build sustainable livelihoods. She has 15 years of experience of the international development sector with a particular focus on education, gender and poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa.
Summary of Talk
Malin spoke about the experience of women farming in Malawi and Zambia and running small businesses such as selling tomatoes in the local market. She told us about a farmer who had doubled her yield as a result of training in how to rotate crops and prevent the soil being washed away in floods. She explained how women need to be able to save money so that the family can still eat if the rains fail to come. Above all, she emphasised the importance of education, especially for girls. Once a family has a reasonable level of food security, they can send their daughters to secondary school – and that changes everything! Smaller families, women who can read and learn, nurses and midwives – the list goes on.
75% of women who belong to Microloan groups can send all of their female children to school compared to 58% before they joined
A 30 second clip about unfair land laws:
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