A female tobacco farmer in Kakanda area in Kaoma District in Western Province has urged her fellow women to take up enterprises that contribute meaningfully to national development.
Speaking during a tour of her tobacco farm in Kakanda area, Namakau Sikamutuma said time has come for women in Zambia to engage in various entrepreneurship spheres such as agriculture, which she says is cardinal for national development.
The tobacco farmer, who spoke through her translator Bridget Ngoma, said as a result of engaging in farming in Kakanda area, she has employed five seasonal farm labourers on her one hectare farm.
Ms Sikamutuma added that through her tobacco farming she has managed to build two houses on rent in Kaoma’s main business District (CBD), purchase two vehicles and a hammer mill, which she disclosed has helped improve her family’s living standards.
She attributed all this to the technical support rendered to vulnerable tobacco farms in Kaoma by Japanese Tobacco international (JTI).
The tobacco company has engaged selected local journalists on a field tour of various projects such as farms, schools and clinics that are being supported in the area.
And JTI Production Supervisor Wallace Sakala says his company has so far engaged over 3000 tobacco farmers against the dangers of child labour.
Mr Sakala noted that JTI aims at inculcating better tobacco farming methods, as well as curb child labour, among other programmes.
And Brenda Ngoma, who is also the Leaf Production Supervisor at JTI said as a result of various intervention measures put in place, there is now zero child labour in nearly all tobacco farms in the district.
Ms Ngoma said as a result of intervention measures by her company, most tobacco farmers in Kakanda area are aware of the negative impact that the trend has on children.
Let us grow food not tobacco.
If you can grow food, grow food. But if you need to grow a cash crop to survive I will not judge you.
Thats why women will never be self reliant because they want to be self relient