The rise and rise of African feminists’ movements

The S4HL campaign was profiled by The Nation in a piece about current movements in Africa to safeguard women’s rights. The initiative’s global advocacy director Esther Mwaura Muiru said: “When women don’t own the land they live and work on, they become trapped in patriarchal systems that reinforce gender inequalities.”

Martha’s Story

After her husband's death in Liberia's civil war, Martha returned to her farm, where she lived with her in-laws. There was a stand of rubber trees that she and her husband had planted before the war, and the harvests became her primary source of income. Life continued that way for years...

Meet Kou Berpa

When her father was living, Kou Berpa recalls, she and her mother were free to cultivate the family’s land. No one encroached on the 100 acres that Samuel Berpa held in Nimba County, northeastern Liberia. Kou had even planted a stand of rubber trees, a valuable commodity crop in the lush West African country.