BY PRINCESS MAHLALELA
MBABANE – Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo (represented by Minister Dr Thambo Gina) has today officially opened a workshop on feedlot management and cattle grazing for members of the COMESA Federation of Women in Business (COMFWB) Eswatini Chapter.
According to Government Facebook post, COMFWB has received over E3 million funding from COMESA and the EU towards a Technical Assistant Facility on the beef production value chain. It is believed that the project will target COMFWB members in the beef value chain who are expected to increase the number of women individually selling to abattoirs.
“Levels of agricultural production in developing economies largely depend on gender. In Eswatini, beef cattle farming is traditionally attributed to the male gender, enhancing productive superiority for males and widening rural gender-based disparities, ” said Khumalo.
The Minister also pointed out that female farmers in developing countries, not much less Eswatini, are confronted by a unique set of challenges that undermine their productivity. Incorporation of the gender variable allows for recommendations in support of inclusive rural economic development.
“Feedlot beef production presents itself as a possible solution to quite a number of challenges faced by women in beef production, this is because it eliminates the process of herding animals & there is control in growth phase as well as the fattening phase.” Khumalo elaborated
