I would like to thank you for the opportunity that I have been given to present at the Agricultural Forum. This is my first smart-partnership as a Zambian Club 29 member and I would like to thank his Excellency President Rupiah Banda and the government for inviting me to Uganda.
I am here to tell you about a small but affective program that is taking place in a rural community 330km outside of Lusaka in Mbabala Constituency, in the Southern Province of Zambia.
The project started in July 2003 with Mrs. Jessie Brenda Hachipuka (my mother), who felt that women needed to play a participatory role in the development and growth of their households and communities. In 2003 Mrs. Hachipuka mobilized 1703 women in Mbabala and sensitized them about the benefits of being members of a cooperative. By May 2003 the women had each bought shares in the cooperative and two months later Mrs. Hachipuka registered The Mbabala Women Farmers Cooperative Union (Mbawofa) with the Ministry of Agriculture and cooperatives. This was the beginning. In October of 2003 Mrs. Hachipuka passed away in a tragic car accident.
In September 2004, while working with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as the Zambia Millennium Development Goal Advocate, I travelled to Japan where I met a Japanese organization called Shumei International, who were the hosting partner for the Asia-Pacific Youth Summit. One of Shumei’s main programs was the Natural Agriculture program, which is an environmentally friendly farming method that focuses on the three main elements, nature, the farmer and the seed.
In November 2004, we invited Shumei International to Zambia to meet with the women because we felt that a partnership could be created. The major problem that rural small scale farmers in Zambia were struggling with was the high costs of fertilizers, pesticides and hybrid seed. We felt that using the Shumei Natural Agriculture method these farmers would learn cost effective and environmentally friendly farming methods that would not only help them supply food to their families but also address MDG goal number 7 (environmental sustainability), which governments would put into effect by 2015 by banning the usage of chemical farming such as fertilizers.
In March 2005, the Mbawofa- Shumei partnership was created. The aim of the partnership was to disseminate information, educate and train the women in Natural Agriculture. An aggressive campaign was launched and the women were trained in Natural Agriculture methods as well as seed saving methods. Shumei International trained local community members so that the women would have access to local help centers (demonstration farmers) where they would be able to learn.
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In 2006 Shumei helped Mbawofa launch a credit seed scheme, which focused on helping the women have access to traditional seed that they could use to plant. 5kg of maize seed and 5kg groundnut seed was provided to over 400 women in September 2006. These women would plant this seed and at harvest time would return the 5kgs they borrowed so that someone else would be able to access the seed and from their harvest they would be able to save enough to plant the following season. Unfortunately the program had a few hiccups, that year there was drought and a number of the women did not harvest anything, so there was very little seed for other women to access. To date the Seed Credit Scheme is still operational and about 100 women a year receive seed on Credit.
The Mbawofa-Shumei partnership focuses on developing the community as a whole and not just the members of the cooperative. As part of our program Shumei has helped Mbawofa start its very own Annual Natural Agriculture Show. This is an event that takes place every year in July. The aim of this event is for local farmers to share information. The activities that take place include Agricultural Displays, Traditional dancing and Singing, Informative plays, Sports activities, which include Netball, Football and track. The women participate in this event as clubs and not as individuals, this allows them to appreciate the term Tubeleke Atomwe (Working together). Prizes are handed out at the end of the event Hammer mills, Boreholes and cash prizes, which are donated by our friends in Japan and the US.
The Mbawofa-Shumei partnership’s main focus is to empower the rural community. Our focus is to create leaders at the local level that will be able to sustain the projects.
4 years down the line Shumei has helped Mbawofa purchase a 4 ton truck, which is operating as a business, 6 hammermils, 3 boreholes, a brick making machine, which produces 1500 bricks a day and the list is endless.
Our friends in Japan and the US through Shumei have connected with rural women, men and youths in the hope of creating Global Partnerships that will help Zambia achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
I would like to thank you for this opportunity. As we say in Mbabala Kumbele, Munsimunsi Pepe (Lets look to the future!)
Thank you
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