Thabelo Ramovha from Nzhelele Ha-Mandiwana believes that women have a major role to play in the fight against poverty and unemployment. She herself had been unemployed for some time before she approached her aged grandmother and asked her for a piece of unused land that she could till. With the help of two of her relatives, Dorah Lioma and Johanna Lioma, the trio planted sweet potatoes, sugar beans, ground nuts, tomatoes and other vegetables, which they now sell next to a busy road adjacent to their fields.
Ramovha, who had no previous farming experience, said that, although things had been very difficult at first, she knew she had to persevere as she was living in poverty and was determined to better her circumstances. "I used a hand hoe to prepare the ground before I could start to plant my first crop of maize with seeds my grandmother gave me. I just planted the seeds without adding any manure because I still had no money then. Luckily, the field is near the Nzhelele River and I could water my maize plants, drawing water from the river with buckets. Things were starting to look up as I sold my first harvest. I invested the money I got from that to buy different seedlings and manure. I was even able to hire a tractor to prepare the land, and so I was able to plant different crops in my field."
Dorah said that people should stop looking down on informal farmers because they played an important role in the local economy. "If you go to the informal stalls around our villages, you will find hawkers selling crops that they bought from us here. Apart from the travellers, who are usual customers, hawkers come here every morning to pick up something to sell to their customers. This shows that we are also helping many other families in making ends meet. We encourage other unemployed women not to relax, but to stand up and create job opportunities for themselves while at the same time helping to grow the local economy."
Johanna added: "You don't have to start big to create a job for yourself. You can start a small informal market at your gate and sell small items like sweets. If you persevere, your business will grow with time and you will not have to depend on someone else to survive anymore."