Meet two of the members of Hamba group Pepukai (meaning Wake-Up in Shona): Adefi (in the red, see below) and Blantina. They have shared the hamba with third group member, Rejoice, since Mobility for Africa’s pilot project began in Wedza in 2019.

They all earn most of their living from their horticulture. Adefi also keeps livestock: goats, cows and rabbits and uses the Hamba to help transport milk to sales.

She says that the “good thing about Hamba is we’re not just limited to using it for agricultural activities. We use it for household chores like fetching water and firewood and for example, we can use it in case of emergencies to take each other to hospital, or even if our neighbours encounter problems like a snake bite, even at midnight, we can and will assist.”

“Before Hamba we would have gone on foot everywhere”, Adefi explained, “Now, we save time and even our produce can get to market when it’s still fresh. The market is at least 12-13 km away so before Hamba we would put produce in a basket and on our head but with walking that far in the heat of the sun, by the time we reach the market the vegetables would lose their freshness and we’d not be able to sell as much.”

“We didn’t grow as much before Hamba because we knew we couldn’t take that much to market. Since, [having the Hamba] we have added several more beds and multiplied production by 3 times.”

When asked how they find paying their instalments for the Hamba, Adefi and Blantina agreed they can always manage and Shumi, the site coordinator, added that they even pay earlier than when is due.

100%, all 58, Hamba drivers in Wedza are women and when asked what their husbands thought of the Hamba Adefi said, “of course my husband wants one for himself but it’s our shared thing and our husbands can’t interrupt our using of it because we share and we decide! With agricultural activities being so hands on we share the Hamba weekly but in case of emergency are always flexible.”