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Elton Manguwo
WITH the nation currently nursing the season of annual awards, the number of women winning gongs for excelling in different sub-sectors of the agriculture industry has been on a steep ascend.
This comes as the Government has invested a lot of resources in creating a conducive environment for the economic empowerment and development of women and youths.
Speaking at the Pacesetters Federation of young farmers Club Zimbabwe (FYFCZ) awards held in Harare recently, this year’s best female farmer and tobacco producer of the year award winner, Ms Ordripha Zishiri expressed gratitude at the way Government and other stakeholders in the industry are recognising women farmers’ contribution in the sector.
She said such recognition was crucial in their growth as women farmers.
Recently, Seed Co head of agronomy Ms Wendy Madzura and extension worker Ms Wadzanayi Manyore won the FYFCZ Media Agro-personality award of the year 2022 in recognition of their contribution to agriculture.
Women participation in agriculture remains the Government’s priority as the country journeys towards attaining a middle income economy by 2030.
Ms Zishiri highlighted that the recognition of women through such events would assist in roping in and attracting women into agriculture production, as this was a testament of how women can be productive at national level.
The Government through the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development aims to increase women participation in agricultural production and has since launched an “Agriculture for She” desk in acknowledgement of the fact that women constitute 52 percent of the population, hence their contribution to the country’s agro-based economy needed not be under-estimated.
Ms Zishiri who won the pacesetters of the year award in tobacco farming for 2022 said the award spoke volumes about the Government’s vision in involving women in agriculture.
Despite the Government’s enactment of policies supporting the increasing participation of women in agriculture, Ms Zishiri, however, feels there is still more work to be done to allow the number of women in agriculture to grow even more.
In a speech at the recent Vital Concepts Agro-Summit 2022 member of parliament for Kwekwe North, Mrs Perseviarance Zhou said women participation in the agriculture sector continued to grow as the role of women in agriculture was crucial for agriculture development.
Mrs Zhou highlighted that women came from a traditional role of attending to household food security, hence it was befitting for them to participate in the agriculture sector. She added that women formed the backbone of agriculture with a historic past of value addition and food processing.
The “Agriculture for She” desk is in charge of mainstreaming women into the Government’s agricultural programmes such as Pfumvudza/Intwasa, Mechanisation, Livestock and Irrigation Development and many others.
Furthermore, the desk will address the need for an inclusive agricultural production and development approach that promotes the creation of equal opportunities for all.
“One of the killer touch points as we move towards Vision 2030 is leaving no one and no demography behind therefore we need to harness this 52 percent of our population into a demographic dividend,” permanent secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development Dr John Basera commented recently.
Online Reporter