Wasara Wasara Co-operative, has more than 30 members, including men. But their bold initiative has been stalled because the generator donated to them has been repossessed by army officials.
Ronald Muderedzwa, a former senior Assistant Commissioner who is now the MP for Buhera Central, confirmed that the generator had been repossessed by the army.
“It was a donation from Zanu (PF) to the community through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe a couple of years ago,” he said. “Unfortunately, it had broken down and needed to be repaired and the money that was required to have it repaired was too much. I doubt that the community could afford to get it repaired so it was taken by the army.”
The MP said plans were underway to ensure that the bakery was electrified through the rural electrification programme.
“The Rural Electrification Agency is in the process of electrifying Gudo township, just a few kilometres from Chimbudzi and I was in Mutare last week engaging the operations manager. I was told they had already budgeted for the electrification of Chimbudzi Clinic and this will benefit Wasara Wasara Bakery because they will be able to connect electricity from the grid,” he said.
Tsitsi Charambira, the co-ordinator of co-operative, who is also a food and nutrition tutor from Self Help Development Foundation, said they were using traditional underground ovens for baking.
“It has been a setback, but we are optimistic that the REA project is going to be implemented soon to enable us to use our skills for the benefit of our community,” she said.
The bakery was constructed following the successful training of several women and men from the area. “The trainings were conducted for free for over three months and they were open to everybody who was interested,” said Charambira. “There was a huge turnout.”
Dorcas Garabha, a member of the group said the trainees mobilised each other and moulded their own bricks which they used in the construction of the bakery. “Our roads are very poor and we do not get bread deliveries to this area. We bake buns, bread and cakes for the local community since the supply of bread from Murambinda Growth point is erratic.”
Women are the driving force behind Africa’s economy, running an estimated 48 percent of small and medium sized businesses. In addition, African women constitute nearly 70 percent of the agricultural labour force and produce about 90 percent of all food.
Post published in: News