Hitoshi Bizen, the African Director at Toyota Mobility Foundation, along with Thibaut MALLET DE CHAUNY and Olujimi Akindele from EIS were in Zimbabwe this week to visit Mobility For Africa operations. It was a busy week visiting each of our sites, meeting our diverse range of customers and learning about the rural transport needs of the country. While TMF was one of our first partners to support our initial pilot in Wedza to explore rural green mobility solutions for rural women, COVID had meant it was not possible for them to be on the ground since 2020.
In Domboshawa, a peri urban area, just outside of Harare, Mr. Bizen hitched a ride with one of our transport and logistics drivers, Kupakwashe. He then visited Mrs Makuwe’s homestead and poultry sheds, where he could see how last mile transport made it easier for her to travel to the local markets to collect chicken feed and seller her eggs.
In Wedza, Mr. Bizen met the local health staff at Igava Clinic to discover how the Hamba could be used to vaccinate children, bring pregnant women to the clinic and help the nurse check in with those living with HIV or TB to make sure they took their medicine. He also had a chance to see how this year, with their support, we will work Shaka Hills Farm, to improve the productivity of local farmers to grow horticulture and then better access local and international markets through their operations.
While in Chipinge, in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, Mr. Bizen got to learn about how a lack of last mile transport hindered the ability of small scale farmers to increase the milk they could sell. Pauline, who qualified for a lease to purchase of the Hamba, now can deliver her milk to the milk collection centre in under an hour, saving her hours each day she can use to instead grow feed for her cows to improve their yield.
TMF, along with other global partners, are crucial in continuing to equip us, to get one step closer to our goal: to bring an affordable, reliable, efficient and environmentally friendly transport solution to rural women and their families!