Haitian Supershero Supports Gender Equal Farming

Her name is Tanama and she is a shero! And while her official debut is not until March 13th, she wanted to be part of International Women’s Day this coming Sunday, March 8th. The result is Tanama shown posing above to reflect this year’s theme, “an equal world is an enabled world,” to which she would like to add a plea to, “support gender equal farming**.” 

Tanama is the creation of Haitian comic book artist Thony Loui, who has been working closely with the Smallholder Farmers Alliance. Tanama’s mission is to encourage children and youth to plant trees, support smallholder farmers and become agents for gender equality.

On the day of the official launch, March 13th, I will share full details of the Tanama Project. The overall program includes the comic book series (in Kreyòl, English and French) as well as information about a classroom-based educational initiative and a range of collaborations in which Tanama lends support to organizations whose missions align with hers.

I would really like to share more, but I am pledged to secrecy until the launch. Two hints: the first comic book will go online that day, and Tanama will be announcing a tree project involving children, youth and smallholder farmers from around 13 Caribbean countries and territories in addition to Haiti. Stay tuned! 

** when women smallholder farmers receive the same resources and training as men, yields go up by 20 to 30 percent according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).