The Rural Women’s Assembly – South Africa (RWA-SA) is a self-organised movement of rural women, smallholder farmers, farm workers, landless people, and peasant producers. We work to advance food sovereignty, land justice, and climate resilience through grassroots mobilisation, political education, and solidarity.

RWA-SA was launched in 2013 in the Western Cape on International Rural Women’s Day, with over 250 women gathering to affirm their collective power and vision. This historic launch built on the momentum of the broader Rural Women’s Assembly Southern Africa, which emerged in 2009 from a landmark gathering in Limpopo. Convened by the Land Access Movement of South Africa (LAMOSA), Women on Farms Project (WfP), and the Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE), the assembly brought together over 250 women from across the region, united by their struggles for land, food, and reproductive rights.

RWA-SA works across a range of interconnected campaigns and focus areas:

• Food Sovereignty & the Right to Food
  We advocate for the constitutional right to food, not as charity, but as justice. Our campaigns challenge hunger, malnutrition, and the systemic exclusion of rural women from food systems.

• UNDROP as a Guiding Framework
  All our work is grounded in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), which affirms the rights of rural people to land, seeds, water, biodiversity, livelihoods, and participation in decision-making.

• One Woman–One Hectare Campaign
  A flagship initiative calling for land redistribution that prioritises women’s access to at least one hectare of land, along with water and seeds, to grow food, generate income, and build independence.
  
  
• Agroecology & Seed Sovereignty
  We promote agroecology as a political and ecological alternative to industrial farming. Through seed banks, farmer-to-farmer training, and youth-led agroecology schools, we build resilient, sustainable food systems.
  
  
• Climate Advocacy & Disaster Resilience
  Rural women are on the frontlines of climate change. We mobilise for climate justice, support community-led adaptation, and advocate for infrastructure and planning that protects vulnerable communities.
  
  
• Healing Circles & Gender Justice
  We facilitate healing spaces for women affected by gender-based violence, land dispossession, and systemic trauma, centering care, solidarity, and collective strength.
  
  
  
  
• Political Education & Movement Building
  Through workshops, dialogues, and popular education, we build the leadership of rural women and connect local struggles to broader policy and global frameworks like UNDROP.
  
  
• Youth Engagement & Intergenerational Knowledge
  We work with young people to revive indigenous knowledge, promote agroecological practices, and ensure that rural futures are shaped by those who live them.

Read more about Rural Women’s Assembly – Southern Africa at www.ruralwomensassembly.org