ARUSHA, Oct. 17 -- RURAL women from 22 African countries have called on governments to collect and publish data on womens land ownership, saying reliable statistics are essential for measuring progress in protecting their rights and strengthening food security.

Chairperson of the African Kilimanjaro Rural Women Farmers Forum, Ms Eva Daudi, said the absence of comprehensive data made it difficult to establish how many rural women across the continent owned land.

“It is high time that official data indicating how many rural women in Africa have managed to own land is made available,” she said.

Ms Anna Sangai of the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) said information on womens land ownership remained inadequate across...