In Nigeria's Plateau state, women till the soil, grow the food, and sustain households — often on land they don't own. Now, some are fighting back to secure the farmland that sustains them.
00:00For years, Gota Riefkatu worked alongside her husband, cultivating and selling yam and rice in pork.
00:10When he died, Riefkatu hoped to keep the business alive.
00:15But there was one obstacle. She didn't own the land.
00:19Access to farmland was governed by custom she could not navigate alone.
00:23By tradition, when a husband dies, his relatives come and force the widow to marry one of them.
00:33If you refuse, they take everything you own.
00:38I refused because I wanted to take care of my children.
00:44I knew that once they took my husband's property and finished using it, they would abandon me and my children.
00:50That is why I refused, so I could protect my children.
00:59Across Nigeria, land inheritance is largely controlled by customary law,
01:05which often sidelines women despite national laws that guarantee equal rights.
01:11Determined to change this, Gota Riefkatu joined forces with other women facing similar struggles.
01:17Together, they formed Omsien Women Farmers, a cooperative that has spent decades quietly challenging traditions that restrict women's access to farmland.
01:28We started the cooperative because we realized that in this world, nobody will help you unless you help yourself.
01:38We pooled our little money and gave it to one person at a time to start a small business.
01:43We hoped the government would support us, but we didn't know how to assess that support.
01:48And even when officials know, they don't show us the way.
01:53So we continued farming on our own, without fertilizer, and without enough land to work on.
02:00Pooling around 500 nega, or about 34 dollar cents, they rented their first plot of land.
02:07Later, with support from organizations like Oxfam, they managed to buy land outright.
02:13Where tradition blocked direct access, the women adopted, they enlisted trusted men to negotiate leases on their behalf.
02:23Erol Chinke, one such ally, faced backlash for FNDEP.
02:28Since from inception, women have been seen as second-class citizens, and so they solidly belong to their husbands.
02:37And the man cares for the woman, and so she doesn't need to go and look for anything for herself.
02:44Even with the civilization and religion activities that came in, it is difficult for them to separate that tradition.
02:52My brothers, I mean, actually, they were not happy.
02:58In fact, some of them even, I mean, came, I mean, confronting me that, I mean, if I didn't, I mean, I'd have the scent to farm, why did I not give them the farm, and I should lease it out, I mean, to these women.
03:12Over time, the cooperative grows stronger.
03:16Sharing labor, storing crops, reinvesting earnings, and supporting members.
03:22Customary claims remain powerful, but this woman refused to wait for inclusion.
03:28Uniting ourselves is what helped me.
03:33I used to rent farmland because I couldn't get any from my husband's family.
03:41That was the only way I could farm.
03:44But when it came to my children's schooling, I had to take a loan.
03:49What makes me happy now is that I've paid my children's school fees and repaid the loans.
03:54Now, those same people are coming back to say my children are their children.
04:02Is that not enough to make me happy?
04:08By organizing, these women are farming, thriving, and dismantling age-old traditions, one step at a time.
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