6 Minute English / Sexism: Female farmers fighting back

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I m Neil.

And I m Beth.

If you've ever tried growing vegetables, you'll know it's not easy. They need water, soil, and plenty of sunlight. Plus you have to keep away weeds and insects.

But in some countries, female farmers face a different problem growing and selling vegetables - sexism, the mistreatment of one sex based on the belief that the other is better, usually that men are better than women. According to the United Nations, over 40% of farmers globally are women, a number which rises to almost 50% in lower and middle-income countries. Although these women manage farms, look after crops, and sell their produce at market, female farmers face sexism in societies where women are expected to raise children and stay at home.

In this programme, we ll be digging into ideas helping female farmers in Bangladesh and Peru to earn a fair price for the food they grow. And, as usual, you ll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well. But first I have a question for you, Beth. According to the UN s World Food Programme, or WFP, what is the world s most popular vegetable? Is it:

a) onions?b) tomatoes? or,c) peppers?

I think the answer is tomatoes.

OK, Beth, I ll reveal the answer later in the programme. Poppy farms a small garden in rural Bangladesh where she grows cucumbers, spinach and okra. Although around half of Bangladeshi farmers are female, they re not always welcome at the marketplace, where they face harassment, or are underpaid for their produce.

Now Poppy has joined hundreds of other female farmers using a new online app. The e-commerce platform is called Farm to Go and farmers can sell their produce without revealing their identity, thereby getting a fairer price than at the market. Here s Poppy telling more to, Salman Saeed, reporter for BBC World Service programme, People Fixing The World: