Empowering women farmers in Mutoko through selling of horticultural produce to fight gender based violence

In the rural Zimbabwean economy, many women are not direct owners of production resources such as land, equipment and financial resources. While women provide most of the labour requirements for production, men are often involved in taking title to the produce and the financial resources gained from marketing the produce. These barriers are further evidenced by difficulties women face in their efforts to access financial resources, market information for local and external markets, business premises or securing transportation for marketing purposes. Women are also disadvantaged in terms of socio-cultural access to educational resources as they constitute 60% of the illiterate adult population and the school dropout rate (The National Gender Policy, 2010).This limits their general access to knowledge, information and networking for marketing and entrepreneurship effectiveness. There is therefore need to address specific gender issues that women face as smallholder farmers and as entrepreneurs in marketing and business development.

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