Projects empower Insiza women
WOMEN in Insiza District in Matabeleland South Province have benefited from self empowerment projects through utilising community gardens and irrigation schemes to grow horticulture products for sale.
In separate interviews, the women said they were utilising the little land they were allocated to grow horticulture products.
They said horticulture products were on demand and profitable.
Mrs Nobubelo Mabhena from Ward 7, who specialises in growing tomatoes at Silalatshani Irrigation Scheme, said she has managed to take care of her family from the money she has raised from farming.
“There is no one who can come and give you money. I had to wake up and ensure that I put something on the table. My husband died three years back and I had to take all the responsibilities of being a bread winner which has not been that difficult because the irrigation scheme has been my source of income,” she said.
Mrs Mabhena also said she has managed to buy three goats and is sending three children to secondary school.
Mrs Ruth Moyo of Ndola village said through farming she has managed to raise money to supplement her husband’s earnings. The mother of one grows tomatoes and carrots. “Gone are the days where the husband has to take care of all the needs in the family. I cannot wait for my husband’s salary all the time hence there is a need for me to share the load with him of which I am doing so by growing and selling tomatoes and carrots,” she said.
“We are in the process of completing our two-roomed house which I can boast as mine too because I had a hand in it. My life is gradually being transformed and the future looks bright because the irrigation scheme is helping us solve most of our problems.”
Ms Sibongile Mathema, a single mother from Denje in Ward 12 where there is also an irrigation scheme said she benefited from the irrigation scheme where she mainly grows vegetables.
She said: “The economy is not in good shape and getting a job is a problem but that cannot be a reason for us to fold our hands yet we have resources around us. I can boldly declare that I am not suffering, as I am able to take care of my family well.”
Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development Minister Nyasha Chikwinya has been urging women to make use of resources in their communities to empower themselves.