BY BEAUTY NYUKE
GOVERNMENT will launch a programme aimed at ensuring that more women participate in agricultural businesses.
This was said on Friday by Lands and Agriculture deputy minister Vangelis Haritatos in Harare during the launch of the African Women in Animal Resources Farming and Agribusiness Network Zimbabwe (AWARFA-N).
Haritatos said the programmes targeting women would include the presidential heifer pass-on, the rural poultry scheme, pasture development, tick grease application and command livestock, fisheries and wildlife among others.
“Women constitute 52% of Zimbabwe’s population and their involvement in this network ensures transformation of many households and improvement of livelihoods,” he said.
“If we get livestock right, we will get agriculture right and the economy right.”
The deputy minister said agriculture was the backbone of the economy, adding that women were the most hardworking and determined people who deserved government support in agriculture.
AWARFA-N is a platform to promote meaningful and beneficial participation of women in animal resources, resilient and sustainable livelihoods, and results in greater orientation of women into competitive and profitable agri-business marketing and trade.
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Haritatos said women faced several challenges in business, among them structural constraints that hindered the meaningful recognition and reward of women’s significant roles and participation in the African animal resources sector.
He said the livestock sector provided livelihoods for 65% of the country’s rural households and contributed significantly to inclusive growth of the agricultural sector and the economy, as well as the food and nutrition security.
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