Shadowing Practice: A Call for Equal Rights for Women Farmers - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
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A new report says if women farmers had the same rights as men,
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more could be done to reduce world hunger.
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The report, Empowering Women in Agriculture,
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is from the anti-hunger group Bread for the World.
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Bread for the World says equal access to agricultural resources would help increase food security and economic growth.
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Faustine Wabwiri is the group's foreign assistance specialist.
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She says women constitute half of the agricultural labor force in not just Africa,
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but the developing countries as a whole.
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And when you think of Africa alone,
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she says, it's more than 60 percent of the total agricultural labor force being provided by women.
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The report says in most countries,
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women working in rural areas are more likely than men to hold seasonal,
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part-time and low-wage jobs.
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They also receive less pay for the same work.
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Ms. Wabwiri says women farmers often cannot get seeds,
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fertilizer, proper tools, credit and especially land.
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She says in most of Africa,
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about 80% of the population is living in rural areas and they subsist on agriculture.
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Women make up 60% of the agricultural labor force and yet they lack access to resources, she says.
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She says land is one good example.
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Less than 20 percent of all landholders are women.
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This is often because of legal as well as cultural reasons.
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She says women who have lost their husbands may have no legal rights over their land.
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The only way to keep the land,
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she says, is to marry,
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say, the brother of the dead husband.
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Restrictions like these, she says,
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continue to impede women's ability to fully enjoy their human rights.
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However, Ms. Wabwiri says women in agriculture are getting more attention these days.
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For example, Kenya's new constitution gives women the right to own land.
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But she says there is still a long way to go.
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Bread for the World is urging the United States government to increase development assistance,
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or at least not to decrease it.
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She says Feed the Future, the U.S government's agriculture aid program,
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is helping to elevate the status of women.
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But Ms. Wabwiri says more African governments must recognize the major role that women play in agriculture and elsewhere.
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Just how much could hunger be reduced if women had equal access to agricultural resources?
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The report estimates that hunger could be reduced for an extra 100 to 150 million people.
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For VOA Special English, I'm Alex Villarreal.

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About This Lesson

In this lesson, students will engage with a discussion about the critical role of women in agriculture, as highlighted in a recent report from the anti-hunger organization, Bread for the World. Learners will expand their vocabulary related to agriculture and social issues while practicing their listening and speaking skills. By focusing on key phrases and the context of the issues discussed, learners will enhance their ability to articulate thoughts on gender equality and food security, which are vital topics in today's world.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Food Security: The condition in which all people have reliable access to enough safe and nutritious food.
  • Empowering: The process of gaining freedom and power to do what you want or to control what happens to you.
  • Accessible Resources: Essential tools and materials that are easy to obtain or use.
  • Low-Wage Jobs: Employment positions that offer minimal salary compared to the average wage.
  • Legal Rights: The protections and entitlements granted by law to individuals.
  • Cultural Barriers: Societal norms and practices that restrict individuals from accessing rights or resources.
  • Gender Equality: The state of equal access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender.
  • Development Assistance: Financial aid or support provided by governments and organizations to improve economic development.

Practice Tips

To effectively improve your speaking skills using this content, consider employing the shadowing technique. Use a shadowing app or shadowing site to play the video transcript at a slow, comfortable pace. Listen carefully to how phrases are articulated, focusing on the rhythm and intonation. Start by repeating after short segments; this helps you to master difficult pronunciations and enhances your fluency in discussing topics like women in agriculture.

For optimal practice, aim to shadow while paying attention to the speaker's emotional tone—notice how they emphasize different points. This will not only improve your English speaking practice but will also help you convey your own ideas with clarity and expressiveness. Engage with others on relevant forums or discussion groups to share insights, allowing you to use the vocabulary you learn in context, further embedding it into your speaking repertoire.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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