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THE Zimbabwe Indigenous Women Farmers Association Trust (ZIWFAT) has urged the Government and banks to consider channelling favourable loans to women farmers which will enable them to start meaningful farming projects. Women farmers pledged to work hard to retain the country’s status of being a bread basket of Africa by increasing food production on their farms once they were provided with land, irrigation, inputs and chemicals.
ZIWFAT president Mrs Depinah Nkomo said women farmers must be given loans to assure the Grain Marketing Board of full silos.
“We are appealing to the Government and banks to give women farmers favourable loans to start meaningful farming projects. If farming loans could be paid back in 10 years at a reasonable interest, the funds will go a long way in our farming endeavours. The arrangement will give women time to produce and pay back the loans.
“The loans that we receive help women to move forward in farming but the challenge is that they are difficult to pay back in six months or one year. Six months is a short period of time for a farmer to have attained surplus production,” said Mrs Nkomo.
She said women need inputs such as seed, machinery, fertilisers and chemicals to increase food production.
“We are hopeful that if we get inputs like seed, fertilisers and chemicals on time they will go a long way in increasing food production and climate change will have little or no effect on our production. The government inputs will go a long way in helping women farmers,” she said.
Mrs Nkomo said Matabeleland women farmers also needed boreholes and drip irrigation to ensure surplus food production.
“Climate change has a ripple effect on production levels, we are left with no option but to switch to modern ways like drip irrigation. It is essential that every woman farmer has a borehole and drip irrigation which covers at least one hectare to counter the changing climate patterns,” she said.
She said ZIWFAT will work with Matabeleland chapter of ZIWFAT which was recently launched at Elangeni Training Centre, to uplift women farmers in Matabeleland.
“We want to facilitate loans and farming projects that will help women farmers in Matabeleland to be independent. The government must consider channelling more resources to women farmers in Matabeleland as they have proven a track record of playing a pivotal role in ensuring food security,” said Mrs Nkomo.
ZIWFAT was formed in December 2011 and its membership drawn from all the country’s provinces now surpasses a million.
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