International Day of Rural women was 15th October this year and the UN’s themes for 2022 “Rural Women Cultivating Good Food for All”, showcases the essential role that rural women and girls play in the world’s food systems.

Alongside the climate crisis as a barrier to food production, the mobility crisis interferes with the entire process of food production from the labours of collecting seeds until distribution to markets as well as the further unpaid labours throughout, which fall greater on women.

On 15th October, as well as every day, we celebrate all the rural women involved in our pilot projects. They all demonstrate the importance of women benefiting from mobility through their productive efforts to provide good food!

For example, Nelly, a 64-year-old single farmer, who lives in the hills of Paidamoyo, Chipinge, Zimbabwe. Twice a day she takes at least 18 litres of milk, split between two canisters up the hill to the collection centre. In between milk collection, Nelly tends to her horticulture practices (maize and peanuts) and poultry egg layers.

Since having the Hamba, Nelly said her journey time to milk collection has been reduced by at least 40 minutes a day, but more importantly she explained, “using the Hamba is less of a drain on me, physically and moneywise. Before I would have to use other transport to take my maize for sales. The hamba opens time for me to do other things in the home too.”

Despite the difficult road conditions in Chipinge, Nelly told us, “I’m getting better by the day!” and that her confidence has grown enormously using the Hamba daily.

See Nelly pictured below on the Hamba.