THE success story of the Siavonga Enterprise, which is expected to
mint US$7,000 (about K50,000) from a fish farming project, is a
shining example of how women can contribute to poverty reduction
and economic growth if given the necessary support.
The aquaculture enterprise is a consortium of women’s groups that have
pooled resources to venture into fish farming.
If given knowledge, skills and requisite resources, women can be an
economic force and help improve household economies.
On page seven of yesterday’s edition, we published a story ‘Siavonga
enterprise to harvest $7,000 fish’ in which we quoted Kariba Women’s
Fishing Project chairperson Agnes Ngosa as saying the initiative’s first
harvest has already benefitted 14 families.
“In total, we think the harvest will sell for around US$7,000,” Ms Ngosa
said.
This is good news. The enterprise would be given all the support it needs
so that it can improve the lives of its beneficiaries.
We agree with Ms Ngosa that the farming project, which is using cages,
will improve the livelihoods of the people.
We have stated in past comments that citizens should not always wait for
the government to solve all their problems.
They should come together and explore what opportunities are available
and how they can exploit them to improve the quality of their lives.
After identifying the problems or opportunities, they should look at what
they can do on their own to respond to those problems and opportunities.
It is only when they do this that they will attract support from the
government, and other players such as non-governmental organisations
and international funding agencies will come in to help.
The Siavonga women have demonstrated this, as Ms Ngosa explained.
She said to come out of poverty in the village, the women put together
their resources to come up with the fish farming project idea and each
member of the group pays about US$1 (about K6,300) per week to
develop the project.
It should be noted that it is not easy for an average woman to raise K6,000
every week in a rural area, but because of their resolve to confront poverty
head-on, the Siavonga women have been managing to pay the
contribution.
It is a reflection of their determination to use whatever opportunity is
available to improve their living standards at household level.
We are delighted to learn that the women are not just looking at the
immediate benefits of their initiative, but that they are focusing on
growth.
Ms Ngosa said the US$7,000 the enterprise is expected to raise from the
harvest of the fish would be re-invested in the venture to buy another fish
cage.
This, she said, would help the enterprise to harvest the fish twice a year
and double the earnings.
We commend the local Fish Folk Group for offering to provide the
enterprise with technical support in the construction of fish cages and
farming techniques.
Help Africa also deserves praise for offering support to the fish farming
venture in form of marketing, accounts, book-keeping and entrepreneurial
development.
We urge other non-state players to emulate the two non-governmental
organisations and provide support to such initiatives by communities,
especially women and the youth.
We are sure that most of what the women will be receiving from the
earnings of the project will be used to improve the living standards of
their families.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Ministry of Gender and Child
Protection and Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child
Health should take a keen interest in this particular project.
It can be replicated in other parts of the country in future and used to
motivate other women into starting similar ventures.
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