Zambezi land made available for food production
After airing their concerns and searching for ways to mitigate unemployment and address food production, the Rob Youth Foundation recently managed to secure ten hectares of arable land in the Zambezi Region.
With the allocated land, the foundation seeks to establish a horticultural programme that will be able to sustain local vendors, employ the youth and ensure that there is a constant supply of vegetable produced within the country, by its citizens.
The land was secured from the Ngweze Traditional Khuta Tribal Authority in the Lusu village.
The authority said that the ideas upheld by the foundation are critical elements in shaping the future of not only the youth, but the community at large.
“These are initiatives that can foster and develop the youth of the Zambezi Region and also contribute to the social economic development of the region and in so doing, the country at large."
Collaboration
“The projects will reduce pressure on natural resources and wildlife conflict, poverty and crime as some of the projects will be a substitute to natural resources declining,” the authority said in a statement.
The foundation has has employed a multitask approach in order to address and eliminate challenges that the youth face.
Among its core principles, the ability to provide a platform for the youth is critical insofar as to shape the country's future.
Foundation’s spokesperson Maria Simwanza said they want to reach out to young people through partnerships and collaborative projects with local universities, colleges and high schools to build a programme that works for the country at large.
"We need to be able to understand how people experience their daily duties. This will enable us to understand and fulfil what our vision as an organisation aims to achieve. People do not know what is going on and for us, it is our responsibility to shed light.”
A personal story
"Three of my children are in school and one is still an infant. They depend on me and my business," said Duminga Masela, a mother of four, told the foundation.
Masela orders her fresh produce at Katima Mulilo market. But she also orders tomatoes at the Musanga area and onions in Kamunu shop. She frequently travels to Zambia where she orders sweet potatoes and cites transportation as a challenge.
"I pass through the border at times and I must be ready to pay an amount of N$50.00 for each 50 kg of sweet potatoes."
The little money that she earns is spent on groceries and other essentials for her children. She cannot think about anything else besides putting food on her table.
In an attempt to make ends meet, she is forced to cross the border illegally through the bush. This has brought her face to face with police who confiscate her goods, which inevitably results in her incurring a loss because she must return home without anything to sell.
The bush provides its own variety of challenges, including thieves who thrive on people in her position trying to make a living.
Uphill battles
All of this, as she faces difficulties in buying school uniforms for her children because of the lack of a reliable and sufficient income to provide food and shelter for her family.
"Sometimes there is no business at all and I spend sleepless nights thinking about how to feed my children," she said.
Similar challenges are faced by another vendor, Sikumba Mpule, who takes care of a daughter and three sons.
Mpule only orders goods at Katima Mulilo Market, having discarded butying anything in Zambia.
"At times there is no business.... I depend on the money I get from my business to buy groceries for my family. I face the problem of transport for my children to go to school because it is so far and more times they don’t go to school because of this," she explained.
"Sometimes, they go to school without even breakfast because I can’t afford to pay transport and food at the same time. School uniforms also take up money which I can use for their food and transport," she said.
CHALLENGES: Rob Youth Foundation spokesperson Maria Simwanza and Duminga Masela. Photo: CONTRIBUTED
With the allocated land, the foundation seeks to establish a horticultural programme that will be able to sustain local vendors, employ the youth and ensure that there is a constant supply of vegetable produced within the country, by its citizens.
The land was secured from the Ngweze Traditional Khuta Tribal Authority in the Lusu village.
The authority said that the ideas upheld by the foundation are critical elements in shaping the future of not only the youth, but the community at large.
“These are initiatives that can foster and develop the youth of the Zambezi Region and also contribute to the social economic development of the region and in so doing, the country at large."
Collaboration
“The projects will reduce pressure on natural resources and wildlife conflict, poverty and crime as some of the projects will be a substitute to natural resources declining,” the authority said in a statement.
The foundation has has employed a multitask approach in order to address and eliminate challenges that the youth face.
Among its core principles, the ability to provide a platform for the youth is critical insofar as to shape the country's future.
Foundation’s spokesperson Maria Simwanza said they want to reach out to young people through partnerships and collaborative projects with local universities, colleges and high schools to build a programme that works for the country at large.
"We need to be able to understand how people experience their daily duties. This will enable us to understand and fulfil what our vision as an organisation aims to achieve. People do not know what is going on and for us, it is our responsibility to shed light.”
A personal story
"Three of my children are in school and one is still an infant. They depend on me and my business," said Duminga Masela, a mother of four, told the foundation.
Masela orders her fresh produce at Katima Mulilo market. But she also orders tomatoes at the Musanga area and onions in Kamunu shop. She frequently travels to Zambia where she orders sweet potatoes and cites transportation as a challenge.
"I pass through the border at times and I must be ready to pay an amount of N$50.00 for each 50 kg of sweet potatoes."
The little money that she earns is spent on groceries and other essentials for her children. She cannot think about anything else besides putting food on her table.
In an attempt to make ends meet, she is forced to cross the border illegally through the bush. This has brought her face to face with police who confiscate her goods, which inevitably results in her incurring a loss because she must return home without anything to sell.
The bush provides its own variety of challenges, including thieves who thrive on people in her position trying to make a living.
Uphill battles
All of this, as she faces difficulties in buying school uniforms for her children because of the lack of a reliable and sufficient income to provide food and shelter for her family.
"Sometimes there is no business at all and I spend sleepless nights thinking about how to feed my children," she said.
Similar challenges are faced by another vendor, Sikumba Mpule, who takes care of a daughter and three sons.
Mpule only orders goods at Katima Mulilo Market, having discarded butying anything in Zambia.
"At times there is no business.... I depend on the money I get from my business to buy groceries for my family. I face the problem of transport for my children to go to school because it is so far and more times they don’t go to school because of this," she explained.
"Sometimes, they go to school without even breakfast because I can’t afford to pay transport and food at the same time. School uniforms also take up money which I can use for their food and transport," she said.
CHALLENGES: Rob Youth Foundation spokesperson Maria Simwanza and Duminga Masela. Photo: CONTRIBUTED
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