ADVANCE initiative wows east women, youths

By Staff Reporter 

An inter-ministerial initiative called ADVANCE consisting of five ministries namely the Agriculture, Commerce, Community Development, Gender, and Youth and Sport whose purpose is to empower Zambians has empowered Eastern province women with farming equipments. 

Agricultural Development Value Chain Enhancement (ADVANCE) is an inter-ministerial initiative aimed at creating jobs and wealth as part of empowering Zambian men, women, and youths. 

The initiative was recently launched by Nkandu Luo, the Minister of Gender. 

Through the same programme, Government has procured 11 tractors that include the boom sprayers and harvester as well as plough to be distributed to women cooperatives in all the 10 provinces countrywide. 

And women in Lukulu, Petauke, Lundazi and Zimba have so far benefited from the programme. 

When the Ministry of Gender handed over a tractor to Tingalile Women Cooperative in Lundazi, Elizabeth Nyirenda said people especially women should not blame government for the economic crisis the country is facing, but instead should endeavour to fend for their families and contribute to economic development. 

Speaking on behalf of other beneficiaries Ms. Nyirenda who is the secretary for Tingalile Women Co-operative in Lundazi’s Lumezi area said she noted with pleasure how some people were now using the strength of the United Sates dollar against the Kwacha as a scapegoat to wallow in poverty. 

She said the farming equipments will help them increase crop yields and also create employment for men and the youth. 

“We are very grateful to government for the tractor, it was not easy to use the hoe for ploughing, we used to spend long hours in the fields at the expense of the family, we can promise our government that we will increase by 100 percent crop yields for household consumption and we will be able to sell the excess,” said Ms. Nyirenda. 

And Chief Zumwanda has since given five hectares of land to women in Lundazi in an effort expand their farming and increase production which will help create employment. 

The chief also implored women to take good care of the farming equipment and ensure that it is put to good use for the benefit of people in the area. 

The youths on the other hand have praised government for the gesture and have since implored government to ensure that the farming equipment are not only utilised by the elderly in communities. 

Justus Phiri said the youth intends to come up with a co-operative that will be involved in maize so that they can start supplying to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA). 

Mr Phiri said the tractor has come at the right time when unemployment levels are high for many youths countrywide. 

Meanwhile Zambia Daily Mail reports that Ministry of Gender permanent secretary Daisy Ng’ambi said the women empowerment fund is open to all women whose work or activities are viable in communities. 

She said the empowerment funds also include services such as entrepreneurship training, grants for start-up or expansion of business, provision of labour saving equipment and facilitation of women exposure visits. 

“I am informed that Petauke is an agricultural district where a lot of maize, cotton and groundnuts area grown. It is against this background that Government wants Petauke district to move upwards in the production of the same crops hence the bringing of a fully equipped tractor to mechanise farming,” Ms Ng’ambi said. 

She said Government is supporting 288 chiefdoms across the country, stating that it will continue supporting and growing new and already existing initiatives of women, men and the youth. 

Ms Ng'ambi said the ministry will endeavour to conduct intensive training where two tractors drivers and one official will be trained in tractor management. 

She said this will be done in collaboration with the suppliers of the tractors beginning November this year. 

“The guidelines on how to manage the tractor will be sent to the co-operative, training of members of the co-operative is important, the Ministry of Agriculture will endeavour to train the members in different agricultural techniques,” she said. 

 She warned that the tractor remains a government property and any form of abuse by individuals or a cooperative will attract a penalty of retrieval.