Lupane Women’s Centre revels in local market buffer.

By Thandeka Matebesi

Lupane Women’s Centre (LWC)  is working its socks off to secure local markets for its goods and services as a way of adapting and dealing with the effects of the Covid19 pandemic which has dealt a heavy blow on most businesses.

LWC’s Director Mrs Hildigard Sihwa Mufukare said markets for the goods and services offered by the centre have extremely shrunk as a result of the Covid19 regulations and restrictions.

“Markets seriously shrunk for all our goods and services; chickens-clientele have since shifted to cheaper alternatives. Restaurant and Booking rooms have totally shut down. Their reopening came with new regulations that have had an impact on operational costs”, said Mufukare.

She revealed that before the pandemic, LWC was exporting to at least 14 countries.

“The Centre relied heavily  on the export market and the lockdown  completely eliminated  this market in the 14 countries that we used to export to. Therefore a need to develop the local market has arisen and this is a Herculean  task given that these customers’ finances have also been on the receiving end of the pandemic”, she said.

The Centre is an initiative of  rural women in Lupane whose thrust is to provide training, information and marketing.

According to Mufukare, the women have a triple function of being the initiators, owners and beneficiaries as beneficiaries of the initiative. She credits this arrangement for the project’s ability to weather the Covid19 storm. 

The women run self sustaining projects that include nutrition gardens, keyhole gardens, goat rearing, poultry and craft. These activities were not halted  during the lockdown period and therefore enabled the women to sustain their families during the difficult period. 

“Despite the closure of the international market the women’s baskets were sold in the local market which has become a major contributor to their income. One positive to note about our projects is that they are people driven. However , the greatest challenge to marketing was transport(due to travel ban during lockdown) which limited  products to a very local market”, said Mufukare.

Mufukare added that the organisation runs a number of businesses which help sustain livelihoods by funding the women’s projects.

“In order to support its activities, the Centre  runs businesses that include a restaurant, booking rooms and a farm(poultry and irrigation).The profits generated are then used to support the women’s projects. In order to fully support the women, the Centre needs to strengthen its business activities by increasing their capacity and this is the support that is needed. Covid 19 eroded the organisation’s capital base, so there is serious need for recapitalisation”, said Mufukare.

A member of LWC, Saziso Sola emphasised that although the Covid19 pandemic has greatly affected their work, they have not been struggling to find stable markets locally.

“Our work has been affected, the Covid19 pandemic has been retrogressive because our wares are no longer selling as they used to before the pandemic but the local market has remained functional. I have been with LWC since 2010 and I make basketry and  also rear goats. Through these activities I have been able to sustain my family as a single mother”, said Sola.

With the reopening of borders, LWC hopes to rake in a few more profits to complement the local market that has carried them through the tumultuous times