BY TSABEDZE KWANELE
MANZINI – The development of farmers, especially women, into effective businesspeople is a positive trend that is evidently on the rise in the country.
The most recent development in this area was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Women Farmer Foundation (WFF) and the Eswatini Enterprise Develoment Corporation (SEDCO).
The MoU is set to strengthen the partnership between the two organisations when it comes to business development training for the youth and women.
Speaking on behalf of SEDCO during the event, SEDCO CEO Khetsiwe Dlamini remarked that, “We have a long history with Women Farmer’s Foundation. We’ve engaged in various projects whereby SEDCO has offered some training. We’ve managed to train over 30 women farmers from the Farmer of the Year – those who actually won. With those, they have benefitted from the entrepreneurship training done by SEDCO. With that, we see the need for farmers to have this entrepreneurship courses because they actually improve value”.
Dlamini made an example that they train the farmers in issues of costing such that includes packaging and insurance amongst other things. “Have I also as a farmer, advertised the produce that I have? We talk also of digital transformation, are we using it as women farmes to advertise the goods that we have produced? We have access when it comes to internet through the players that are here in terms of companies like MTN. Now, through our mobiles, we can access socia media to provide detailed information”, added Dlamini.
The MoU signing happened today at a Flea Market organised by SEDCO and the WFF.
