From the seed in the dowry chest to the hometown market: 'Hear the silent scream of women'

The United Nations declared 2026 as the "International Year of Women Farmers". However, many problems remain to be solved.

Ebru Oğuzhan Yeter, Founding President of the Fethiye Local Seeds Association, said, "The halls are bright, fancy words on the podiums, great applause... But those applause sounds do not solve the silent troubles of Elif Abla swinging a hoe in the field, or Fatma Aunt Digging the soil with her calloused hands." "He is literally struggling to survive in his bosom," he said.

'AGRICULTURE IS INDEPENDENCE'

Reminding that it has always been women in Anatolia who kept the seeds carefully for generations, dried them and carried that sacred diversity to the present day, Yeter said, "The most valuable treasure in the Anatolian woman's dowry chest is not the gold bracelets, but the handful of local seeds inherited from her mother. Because the woman knows very well that the seed is life and, as her ancestors said, 'Agriculture is Independence'."

'UNFREE LABOR WITHIN THE FAMILY'

On the other hand, Yeter stated that the farmer woman does not have the strength to plant that seed today and said, "The prices of diesel, fertilizer and medicine are prohibitive; finding workers is one thing, making up their daily wage is another matter... The woman enters the field before dawn, in the frost, toils and struggles until midnight. However, the sacred sweat she shed is recorded only as "unpaid labor within the family". When her day is over, she has no social security, no hope of retirement for the future, nor anything in her pocket." She drew attention to the problems experienced by women farmers with the words "an allowance of her own."

'HE PRODUCES BUT CANNOT FIND A MARKET'

Warning, "If we do not want our villages to be completely emptied and the lands to be orphaned tomorrow, we have to ensure that the woman in the field clings to her land safely, socially and economically," Yeter said, "Unless we bring new agricultural methods to the woman, according to her painful daily rhythm, what kind of abundance can we expect from the seeds that fall on the ground?" posed the question.

"Women produce with great effort and effort. But when the harvest time comes, they cannot find a market where they can sell their goods for their value without losing them to middlemen and opportunists," said Yeter and continued his words as follows:

'WE MUST HEAR THE SILENT SCREAM'

"There is neither the capital to sell online nor the power to stand behind it... Women's cooperatives should not remain just on paper, as success stories in the reports. Those structures should officially become strong castles that trade and produce, putting money in the pockets of women and not making them dependent on anyone. Until the calloused hands of the women farmers and the sweat they put in get the value they deserve, we can neither talk about real development in these lands nor the abundance on the table.

Because women are laborers, women are producers, women are mothers. Now we have a whole year ahead of us. Until the next International Women's Farmers' Day, who knows how many more women will give up hope, leave their land, migrate to the cities, and leave behind devastated fields? This is what we should really think about, what we should really hear is this silent scream.”