Sexism: Female farmers fighting back ⏲️ 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC

Learning English. I'm. Neil, and I'm Beth.

If you've ever tried growing vegetables,

you'll know it's not easy.

They need water, soil and plenty of sunlight.

Plus, you have to keep away

weeds and insects.

But in some countries female farmers face a different problem growing

and selling vegetables - sexism,

the mistreatment of one sex based on the belief that the other is better,

usually that men are better than women.

According to the United Nations over 40% of farmers

globally are women, a number which rises to almost 50%

in lower and middle-income countries.

Although these women manage farms, look after crops

and sell their produce at markets, female farmers face sexism

in societies where women are expected to raise children and stay at home.

In this programme, we'll be digging into ideas

helping female farmers in Bangladesh and Peru

to earn a fair price for the food

they grow, and as usual

you'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

But first, I have a question for you, Beth.

According to the UN's World Food Programme or WFP,

what is the world's most popular vegetable? Is it:

a) onions b)

tomatoes or c) peppers?

I think the answer is tomatoes.

OK, Beth.

I'll reveal the answer later in the programme. Poppy farms a small garden

in rural Bangladesh where she grows cucumbers, spinach and okra.

Although around half of Bangladeshi farmers are female,

they're not always welcome at the market place, where they face harassment,

or are underpaid for their produce.

  Now, Poppy has joined hundreds of other female farmers using a new online app.

The e-commerce platform is called 'Farm to Go'

and farmers can sell their produce without revealing their identity,

thereby getting a fairer price than at the market. Here's Poppy

telling more to Salman Saeed, reporter for BBC World Service Programme,

'People Fixing the World'

By selling here, we can more profit. For example,

if we sell a product in the market at 30 Taka, we can sell it here

at 32 or 33 Taka.

That's what makes us very happy!

It also saves time, as after selling the products,

we can come home and spend time with the family and

can also work in the vegetable garden.

  33 Taka is about 30 US cents,

with three hundred women currently using the app in Bangladesh.

And while the three cents

extra may sound small, over the course of the year,

as prices fluctuate,

the WFP say

the average monthly revenue for each farmer

using the app has risen dramatically. In the long run the hope is that

it will also be possible to challenge and change attitudes around gender

but in the meantime the extra money

she makes per sale makes a big difference to Poppy and her family.

Although the app only increases Poppy's profits a little,

they soon add up because vegetable prices fluctuate,

they continually change, moving up and down.

According to the WFP,

the incomes of farmers using the app have risen dramatically,

they've increased as suddenly and surprisingly.

That makes a big difference to Poppy. To 'make a big difference'

is an idiom meaning to significantly improve a situation.

It's good news for female farmers in Bangladesh,

but problems continue in many other places often

because it's the man in the family

who controls the household finances.

Here, reporter Craig Langran explains a finance scheme helping

female coffee growers in Peru to BBC World Service Programme,

'People Fixing the World':

So, I came across a project in Peru recently

and they're helping female coffee growers to access finance.

So how it works -

it's a type of savings and credit union and people living nearby

can each chip in a small amount of money,

which can then be accessed by a farmer if she needs a loan to, say,

buy a new bean processing machine or something like that.

Female farmers in Peru have started a savings and credit union.

This is a kind of cooperative bank, where members

pool their savings together

so they can lend funds to each other.

Each member chips in,

everyone gives a small amount of money to pay for something together.

Getting back to vegetables,

I think it's time to reveal the answer to my question, Beth.

According to the UN, what is the world's most popular vegetable?

I guessed it was tomatoes... Which was the correct answer!

Technically a fruit, nutritionists

count tomato as a vegetable,

in fact, the most commonly used vegetable in the world.

OK, let's recap the vocabulary

we've learned in this programme on female farmers battling sexism -

that's the mistreatment of one sex based on the belief

that the other one is better,

usually that men are better than women.

If something fluctuates, it keeps changing, moving up and down.

To rise dramatically means to increase in

a sudden and surprising way. The idiom

'to make a big difference' means to significantly improve a situation.

A savings and credit union is a cooperative bank

where members pool their savings together

so they can borrow money from each other.

And finally, if you chip in, you contribute some money

so a group of you can pay for something together.

Once again. Our 6 minutes are up.

Join us next time for more trending topics and useful vocabulary here

at 6 Minute English.

Goodbye for now! Bye!