host: welcome to “global 3000.” this week, we meet women from three different parts of the world who are all driving change and inspiring others. in iran, they head up agribusinesses, providing work for other women. in india, we meet women whose artwork gives others a voice. and in kenya, skilled mediators help ease tensions caused by ever-increasing drought. women began joining forces to campaign for equal rights at

least 170 years ago. yet it wasn't until the 20th century that they achieved tangible success, when several european countries introduced the right to vote. though there's sll a long way to go before true equality is a reality. that's particularly clear when it comes to money. according to the u.n., well under half of all women of working age are actually in paid employment. and on average, women spend three times more time doing unpaid work at home than men do. in asia and africa, it's seven times more. yet some courageous women are challenging the status quo, even in traditional societies. we head to kenya. reporter: the bush here in northern kenya has become almost a desert. the ewaso nyiro river reduced to little more than a trickle. for years now, the area has had

far too little rain. shepherd abdi abkula keeps his goats close to the water. at least there's something for the animals to graze on here. anhe nevertrays far from his village. abdi: these days we fear for our safety. our neighbors, the samburu community, keep attacking us. they kill and steal our livestock. reporter: to help de-escalate the conflicts, habiba tadicha often reaches out to the shepherds along the river. she used to head the local nature conservancy and is well known in the region. disputes over water and grazing land have become frequent here. she negotiates with shepherds in this area of beliquo bulesa, while other women are in dialogue with nearby communities. habiba: we have many meetings, peace meetings, especially like

beliquo bulesa i'm leading, like sera, there is a lady called pauline who is leading. so, because we are mothers and we know the disadvantages and advantages of the conflict, so we decide to sit with our young ones, those who are leading in conflict, our husbands. reporter: and that's what makes this unusual -- women are taking the lead and making a difference. the kenyan constitution upholds gender equality, but in practice it's still the exception. the kenyan branch of environmental group tnc is led by munira anyonge. she says kenya needs more women leaders habiba tadicha. munira: they're actually raising their voices, making decisions on how their conservancies can be managed. especially, for example, if there's a conservancy that has tourism facilities and they get conservation fees. there's the issue of sharing of those proceeds between the

operations of the conservancy and a percentage goes back to the communities so that they can, you know, invest in education, health facilities, and others. reporter: the tnc runs 39 nature conservancies in kenya. it also finances the one in habiba tadicha's community. the conservancies protect nature, offer job prospects, and encourage women to play a greater role in society. habiba tadicha benefited from the conservancy and is now helping others. she and other women in her village have built a culture center. they did a lot of the work themselves. the women rent out the hall and the lodges to visitors and local people, which brings in money. that's allowed them to set up a savings club. here, the women give out loans to each other, using income

from the culture center, subsidies from ngo's, as well as members' own savings. habiba tadicha leads the club. she's given loans of $250 to more than 100 women, mostly to finance small business ventures. dade roba got a loan from the savings club to invest in an electric motor for her corn mill. now she can earn more money. like so many here, she's benefited from the nature conservancy. dade: in the beginning, the local community here was opposed to the establishment of a conservancy, but habiba lobbied for it so that women could benefit. she's very brave. one time she was even shot at, but she wasn't intimidated and just carried on with her work. we're very happy now.

reporter: habiba tadicha doesn't want to talk about the threats she's received. she'd rather focus on being a role model for the next generation. at the local school, she encourages children not to give up, even when they face opposition. habiba: girls, don't allow yourself to be left behind. and don't be shy all the time. reporter: during her time as head of the local nature conservancy, habiba tadicha secured funding for two more classrooms here. today she's part of the council of elders and has arranged financial help for children from poorer families to attend school. those who have prospects for their future, she says, are less likely to engage in conflict. habiba: education is the best thing in our life, in everybody's life. because illiteracy -- illiteracy, it makes us not uplift our standard. for one, after getting an

education, you get jobs, earn a salary, uplifting your standard. and even additional education to everything is important. without education, i myself, i cannot be a leader of my community. reporter: she loves her work but is often rushed off her feet. she has three children and also cares for her sick husband. then she has two small shops that she opened with loans from the savings club. thankfully her eldest daughter is able to help out. habiba tadicha hopes her daughter will follow in her footsteps. and she certainly seems to have inherited her mother's passion for leadership -- she already leads the local youth group. host: when it comes to work, women in iran have it far from easy. according to the world bank,

even before the coronavirus pandemic, just 17% of them had regular work. it is even harder for those wanting to be self-employed. women in iran often have trouble being granted a bank loan. but getting off the ground as an entrepreneur is not impossible. reporter: atekeh nobaghi doesn't ride in on a camel -- that would be far too clichéd, and uncomfortable. the camels are happy to see her. she has another long day of work ahead of her. first, she has to give the camels their breakfast. atekeh: i feed them twice a day, morning and evening. in the winter, with the long nights, the evening meal is especially important. in the afternoon we take them to the meadow. reporter: atekeh nobaghi is a camel breeder. sounds like a traditional occupation, but in this case

it's the story of a rural start-up. until four years ago, her family had nothing to do with camels. like many regions in iran, nobaghi's native khorasan has been affected by drought for years now. climate change isn't the only culprit -- a large part of the problem is human-made. over the past decades, new dam projects have dried up entire lakes and rivers, including the country's largest river, the zayandeh rud. the drought is causing more and more people in the countryside to lose their livelihoods. atekeh nobaghi's family was also affected. they were no longer able to maintain their 400 sheep and cattle. atekeh: it also doesn't rain as much as it used to.

the groundwater table has declined from 20 centimeters to five centimeters. so we can hardly grow anything here anymore, except for alhagi. reporter: alhagi, which is also known as camel thorn, grows like a weed in sandy regions. it's not suited for sheep or cattle feed. but the rural entrepreneur studied botany. she did research and found out two things -- its distilled extract is believed to have medicinal properties. and it makes good camel feed. atekeh: i thought, instead of cattle and sheep, i could start raising camels. that meant i could use our barren fields again, plant more alhagi, and even earn money with it. reporter: four years later, she has 80 camels. she sells the meat and the milk -- both are considered very healthy. to get into the camel business, she did an internship at a camel farm far away from home,

wrote a business plan, and convinced her father to go ahead. he was skeptical at first -- “camels in our region?” he asked. but today, he's her biggest fan. >> she has my blessing and can do whatever she chooses. i would never stand in her way. she even has power of attorney over my bank account because i trust her completely. she has really enriched our lives. reporter: meanwhile, the camel herd supports the entire family. it's even created jobs for some people in the nearby village. atekeh: camel breeding is very good for us. we can earn good money with it. even in winter, when there's no work in the area, we still have work here. reporter: since her divorce, nobaghi has been living with her family again.

she decided to come back home to this rural area, rather than pursue a university career. that also meant leaving the city, unlike many young iranians, who move to the cities in hope of finding work. atekeh: i got my first degree in humanities. but then i switched to plant science, because i really wanted to gain expertise and use it to solve our problems here in this rural farming region. reporter: her camel breeding idea is making a difference. meanwhile, she also advises other farmers in the region. and she's also tackling the water problem. together with local residents, she asked the authorities several times to take the farmers' problems seriously. when nothing happened, she took action herself. atekeh: the people in the village raised money, rented an excavator, created canals,

bought and installed water pipes. it took us 20 days in all. and now we can transport water from the mountains down to the valley through the pipeline. reporter: it's not high tech, but it's a help. so far, atekeh nobaghi hasn't had any state support for her camel business, even though she's applied for assistance any number of times. and her neighbors in the village haven't always been keen either. a woman with so much ambition and so many ideas isn't always welcome. atekeh: most people here don't put much stock in a woman's ideas. but my father took me seriously back then and encouraged me to improve our lives. and i thought to myself, i also want to be a role model for other women. reporter: atekeh nobaghi plans to expand her camel start-up, and one day market her products in other countries.

longstanding farming traditions here are being threatened by drought, but she has turned it into an opportunity. host: india is home to more than 682 million women, and for most, gender equality remains a far-off dream. contempt, discrimination, and even violence are often part of daily life. women in india have less access to education, they're often poorer, earn less or even nothing, and have little control over their own destinies. now, though, some bold women are encouraging others to make their voices heard. ita: i think that we women ourselves often stop ourselves from dreaming big and being fearlese of our lives. there are a lot of conversations that need to be had and are not being had in this country. there is still continuous pressure and expectations of

very hegemonic patrichal social sucture. reporter: ita mehrotra says working with art allows her to best to express herself, her ideas, and her perspective on life. she is inspired by feminist leaders and people's movements. this is reflected in her drawings, and the issues on which she has chosen to focus. but in her early twenties, ita was captivated with something entirely new. what she called "“the magic of bringing text and image together” to create powerful narratives, like this book on an eco-feminist who led a movement against deforestation in india. ita: that engagement of you as reader being part of the story is something that i love. i don't want to produce work that's just kind of, you know, telling you. i want it to be a conversation. and that's what i feel i'm able

to do when i make comics and graphic narratives. reporter: ita engages with women from marginalized communities. she has travelled to remote regions. there, she saw the transformative potential of art. ita: they are first generation learners, they have no kind of inspiration from family or from elders in their communities to see that they can create life the way they want to. over there, to say you can express what your ideas are, what your dreams are. just to do that as the first stage is really, really important i feel, to be able to have that trust, that bond. and then to slowly say, we can together look at what it means to think of ourselves as dreamers, as people who define

our identities. reporter: ita was drawn to a mass movement led by women in delhi. the shaheen bagh sit-in protest at major public highway was against the government's citizenship amendment act. critics said the legislation was discriminatory against muslims. ita: it was absolutely unbelievable to be on a public highway, blocking that space of course, but having women speak so strongly up on a stage and so clearly about what democratic rights are and what citizenship means. the only way i felt i could express what i am hearing was through drawing. i would then come back to my studio and make first posters, both in hindi and english. reporter: ita's posters and drawings on this peaceful protest have now been compiled into a book, a powerful graphic narrative of women at the forefront of a

mass movement. ita: at the same time, we see what the government and the state is doing. two young women who speak out and voice dissent. so within these two kind of contexts of young women being at the forefront of people's movements, and a state that's kind of crushing and wanting to threaten any kind of dissent, it is a moment where i would think we can really make of days what we want. announcer: two children. two continents. one giant problem. >> [speaking native language] >> [speaking native language] announcer: w will climate change affecte] us and our children?

learn more at dw.com/wat. host: worldwide, around 10 million hectares of forest are destroyed every year. often the land is used for farming. for “global ideas,” we headed to ivory coast. the country has already lost most of its forest, with devastating consequences. but one potential solution is digitalization. reporter: valtère yao koffi was hoping to become a lawyer, but after completing his studies, he decided to become a farmer instead. in 2016, he launched his company champ ivoire, against the advice of his parents, and devoted his time to growing food. digital technology has always been at the forefront of his work. he uses apps to get advice on optimal farming methods. right now, he's getting some tips for his rice field. these tools have played a key role in his career choice. he sees himself as more of an agricultural entrepreneur, or "agripreneur," than a farmer.

valtère: with these apps and with the internet, we're able to find solutions to the problems we encounter and that has been a huge plus for us, the new generation of agripreneurs. reporter: agriculture is a leading sector in ivory coast, representing nearly a third of gdp. but global warming and deforestation are weighing on the environment. could digital technology revolutionize the sector? the company investiv is convinced it can and is trying to preserve the country's remaining forests with precision agriculture. they want to make a clear distinction between protected forest and farmland, with the help of drones. >> could it fall on our heads by accident? reporter:

the photos taken by the drone show the farmer exactly what belongs to them and what belongs to the forest, where they're not allowed to fell trees. mamadou: he has his map and knows he owns one hectare. he won't go beyond that and encroach on the forest. reporter: back in the village, the footage is analyzed and clearly shows the boundaries between the forest and the fields. >> you can work anywhere in this area, but you can't enter here. reporter: this is a small revolution. previously, he would have had to walk around his field with gps to obtain is data. ernest: work that would normally take us two or three hours now only takes us one hour, so that's really good. reporter: so far, few people in ivory

coast have access to such data. while almost everyone has a cell phone today, less than half the population has internet access. it's often too expensive, especially for farmers. valtère yao koffi is trying to popularize the use of apps among farmers. he explains the wide scope of opportunities that the internet presents. but he knows a lot has to change to achieve real success. valtère: it would be good if we could have free internet zones in the villages where people could get wireless access and get online. that would be really good. reporter: and time is of the essence. in the heart of the country, rain is scarce and the land is dry.

researchers at the agricultural college in yamoussoukro are developing an app that will help people to adjust to climate change. farmers can access this information and apply it accordingly, depending on the condition of their fields. the scientists use meteorological data from the nasa website. anicet: our goal isn't to accurately predict the weather. it's to determine the right time during the plant's growth cycle to carry out certain agricultural activities. reporter: researchers also want the app to be able to respond precisely to the needs of the farmers. given the drought and the need to irrigate, rain is a major concern. >> ok, but does the app take rainfall into account? because there might not be enough. reporter:

eventually, the app should calculate the amount of water the farmers should use depending on the rainfall. thomas: it allows us to anticipate problems that would normally take us by surprise. reporter: digitalization is hoped to solve another big problem for farmers -- access to new markets in the cities. marie-laure kindo runs a juice bar in abidjan. she buys her fruit at the market, but there are always problems with deliveries. the new online platform that brings producers and buyers together could save her from these constant disruptions. marie laure: the suppliers give us dates when the items will be available, and then due to logistics problems, they're not available abidjan. reporter: the app could also help farmers to sell their produce more effectively by consolidating information about crop yields

from across the country. kouassi: there could be a shortage of bananas in the north of ivory coast, for example, and overproduction in the south. so our idea is to allow farmers in the south where there is an overproduction to be able to sell their products in the north. reporter: it will take time for the virtual market to function well nationwide. agricultural entrepreneur valtère yao koffi doesn't want to wait that long. he organizes training for young people, who want to help the country move forward with digital agriculture. valtère: when young people on social media see others like them who went to school and got diplomas, but then returned to the countryside, to this land that feeds people, i think that will create jobs. reporter: he hopes to create a real community of networked organic farmers across the country.

host: that's all from us at “global 3000” this week. drop us a line at global3000@dw.com, and visit us on facebook too, dw global ideas. see you next time. take care.

♪ >> this is "dw news" live from berlin. russia indicates it may shift its war aims in ukraine. a senior official says the first stage of its campaign is complete and that moscow will not august on eastern ukraine. this comes as ukrainian forces recaptured to -- recapture territory near kyiv. also coming up, the u.s.