adminThe development is going to be a shot in the arm for farmers who had to travel long distances on foot to reach the nearest sale pen.
In an interview in Bulawayo on Friday, the project manager for Hlekweni Training Centre Ms Thandanani Moyo said they had already started ferrying building material to the sites where the sale pens would be erected. “We have already cleared places where we intend to erect the sale pens and as I speak material is being ferried to these sites,” said Ms Moyo.
She said they had realised that the farmers had limited access to markets hence the need to build the sale pens.
“Getting access to markets was a challenge for farmers and that was why we decided to help them by building the sale pens in such villages as Malanswazi in Bulilima and Malitlou in Gwanda South,” she said.
The development is set to benefit farmers the most as they would no longer transport their animals thereby cutting down on transport expenses.
Practical Action Southern Africa project manager for the Protracted Relief Programme Mr Reginald Sithole said people did not bother about goats as importance was put on cattle, hence efforts to try and alleviate poverty through goats by bringing the markets closer to the farmers.
“Most farmers did not bother about small livestock as they concentrated on cattle. We thus decided to bring the markets closer to them by erecting auction floors such as the one in Sanzukwi village in Mangwe District,” said Mr Sithole.
He said they had also resolved to revive the marketing committees that would help in securing buyers for the farmers in each ward in Matabeleland South.
Mr Sithole encouraged the farmers to form co-operatives that would bring goats in bulk to the auction floors rather than selling as individuals.
“We urge the farmers not sell their livestock as individuals but to form co-operatives. The goat sale pens would accommodate many goats according to their grade and quality and that should benefit the farmers,” he said.
In an interview, a farmer from Gwanda South Ms Gladys Dube of Malitlou village under Chief Mathe said they were grateful for the development as most farmers did not know where to sell their goats.
“We are very grateful for the efforts done by Practical Action Southern Africa and Hlekweni Training Centre. They have enlightened us and now we can sell our goats from these sale pens as well as dictate prices for the animals,” said Ms Dube.
Although the sale pens are yet to start functioning, the move has been well received by the farmers who expressed optimism and hope.
Hlekweni Training Centre and Practical Action Southern Africa encourage agricultural practices which enhance environmental sustainability through empowering trainees with skills and confidence to become initiators of development in rural communities and services using locally available resources and appropriate technologies.
Meanwhile, Practical Action Southern Africa and Hlekweni Training Centre, conducted a review of projects they did with farmers in Matabeleland South from September last year to March this year at a local hotel on Friday.
The workshop, held under the theme “Protracted Relief Programme”, brought together 50 farmers from areas which include Bulilima, Mangwe and Gwanda districts in Matabeleland South Province.
The workshop was conducted to assess progress from the projects such as vegetable farming, goat and cattle rearing, among others and try to implement findings.
Speaking at the workshop, Mr Sithole, said the purpose of the workshop was to assess what they had done from September and try to map the way forward.
“We conducted this workshop so as to review our projects, identify challenges and look for solutions which we can implement,” said Mr Sithole.
He said they were working in 14 wards in the province with a vision to alleviate poverty.
Feedback given by farmers at the workshop showed that one of the major constraints they faced was lack of information on how to prepare and grade their livestock and vegetables and how to get them to the market.
Gwanda South farmer Ms Dube said most farmers from her area lacked information and that contributed to low levels of production but was grateful for the efforts by Practical Action and Hlekweni Training Centre to train them.
“A number of farmers do not know that they can alleviate poverty through increased and better quality production of their livestock and vegetables.
“For example, others do not know that chemicals are needed to rear the same goats that did not need chemicals in the past as new diseases such as pneumonia are now affecting them as well,” said Ms Dube.
She said as one of the lead farmers in her ward, she was going to make sure that information gathered during project meetings and such workshops would be disseminated to every farmer in the ward.
In an interview, Mr Adreas Ndebele, a farmer from Mangwe District, Ward 13 under Chief Wasi, said farmers had lost a lot of money because they did not know how to prepare and grade their produce before taking it to the market.
“Farmers did not know that they had to carefully grade their produce so that it fetches a good price and buyers used to take advantage of that.
“Things are different now as the knowledge gained through training has made us realise how we have been cheated in the past,” said Mr Ndebele.
Practical Action is an NGO that targets poverty-stricken rural farmers and teaches them how to use new technologies according to their circumstances through adapting traditional technologies, testing and introducing new ones.
Hlekweni Training Centre encourages agricultural practices which enhance environmental sustainability through empowering farmers with skills and confidence to become initiators of development in rural communities using locally available resources and appropriate technologies.
Online Reporter
Londile Moyo