By Annie Zulu
Lusaka
In the backyard of a small
brown-bricked unfinished structure in the Kashima area of Mufumbwe, a rural
district in North-Western Province, Zambia, is a group of women with different
colourful Chitenges (wrappers) tied around their waists.
Some are bending, while
others are seated on a small bench, with their hands rigorously making dough
out of some black solid mass.
Their laboured breathing,
contagious laughter, snatches of conversations, and hasty movements can be
heard from a distance as they do their work.
“This is a mixture of burnt
and ground agricultural wastes such as maize cobs, groundnut shells, cassava
powder and water. We are making charcoal briquettes for sale, which is used as
fuel for cooking,” says Sarah Mukanda, the group’s leader.
Chiseke Women Group Leader-Sarah Mukanda
The group, which consists of
18 members meet four times a week at the same spot to make briquettes. They start their day as early as 8 am and
make over 15 tonnes of briquettes in a day.
The briquettes are packed in
20 Kilogrammes bags and sold at K60 ($3.50) per bag. When business is good, the group makes up to
K1, 000 which is equivalent to $59 weekly.
Half of the profit is shared
among group members to help them buy basic needs for their households, while
the other half goes to the group’s savings account of which the money is later
shared after 12 months.
According to Sarah, similar
life experiences and challenges brought the women together and they decided to
form a corporative group called `Chiseke’ a Zambian-Lunda language word which
means ‘Happiness’.
She tells this reporter that the group has since its inception in
2019 come up with different business initiatives to earn a decent living and
producing briquettes was one of their major activities.
Chiseke women preparing briquettes
Among group members are
survivors of Gender-Based Violence (GBV), widows, single mothers and guardians
of orphans and vulnerable children.
“We realised we were facing
almost the same challenge, so we decided to form a group to support each other.
Briquette making is one of the many things we do, we were privileged to have
received training on how to make briquettes and a machine from the National
Technology and Business Centre (NTBC),” she said.
She adds that making
briquettes have also given the women a sense of self-worth and financial
security, as they enjoy a ready market because the cost of their briquettes is
much lower compared to other sources of energy.
“We no longer just sit back
and ask for money from our husband, which is one of the major causes of GBV. We
are also now contributing to the well-being of our families because we can make
money and make savings from the briquette business. People in the community buy
our products, as well as those from nearby districts,” she said.
National Technology and
Business Centre (NTBC) Chief Executive Officer Dr Chitundu Kasase, whose agency
is supporting the women group with capacity building, branding and marketing
confirmed in a press query that the group was earning an income from the
product.
“Initial market linkages
were conducted within Mufumbwe and Solwezi districts respectively. With these efforts, Trident Foundation
(Kalumbila Mine) procured all the available stock by end of the first quarter
of 2021,” Dr Kasase said.
The group is not only
helping the women find financial stability, but is also providing them with
social support, as they share problems and console each other in times of
difficulty whenever they meet to make briquettes.
One of the group members,
Florence Kaumba recalls how the group stood by her when she was physically
abused by her husband.
“I was severely beaten by my
husband a few months ago, a few members of the women group, led by our leader
confronted my husband and warned him.”
“Since then, my husband has
never laid his hands on me again, the women told him that GBV is a very serious
offence and that if he beat me again, they will report him to the police and he
will be jailed,” Florence said.
Another member, Wana Njamba
said the briquette business is also helping the women to protect the
environment, as it is discouraging the cutting down of trees for charcoal and
firewood in the area and promoting clean methods of cooking.
Wana notes that before she
learnt how to make briquettes, she used firewood and charcoal to cook for her
family, which was causing harm not only to her health but also to the
environment.
“I also take some of the
briquettes we make with me home. I no longer inhale the smoke that caused me to
cough, I can now cook without worrying. The briquettes also help us to protect
our environment so that people do not cut down trees for charcoal,” she said.
Briquettes making process
According to World Wildlife
Fund (WWF), an organisation working with the Forestry Department to ensure that
Zambia`s forests are protected and sustainably managed, the country has the
highest deforestation rate in Africa and is ranked 5th highest globally. This
is because 90 per cent of Zambia’s population is dependent on charcoal and
firewood for cooking.
Climate Change Activist
Mwelwa Chileshe stresses that supporting women-led initiatives such as
briquette making can help reduce deforestation in Zambia.
“Women are the first to
respond to managing the environmental capital that surrounds them. From
collecting water for cooking and cleaning, using the land for livestock,
foraging for food in rivers and reefs, and collecting firewood. If such
initiatives are fully supported, we can preserve trees from being cut. Trees
help to protect soil from erosion,” she says.
At the 26th session of the
Conference of the Parties (CoP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2021, bold commitments by countries to paving the
way for gender-responsive climate response and making women more ‘resilient’ to
the precarious impact of the crisis was a matter of the moment.
And earlier this year in
March, during a UN Commission on the Status of Women 66th session meeting,
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Inger Anderson
also emphasised the need to put women at the heart of climate and environmental
decisions making.
“We have had enough of male-dominated
solutions. Enduring a just transition to a green, sustainable future requires
gender-responsive approaches to reorienting finance flows and economic models
and investing in resilience and capacity-building,” Ms Anderson said.
The Zambian Government
recognizes this call for gender-responsive approaches to addressing climate
change by nations.
In an exclusive interview,
Green Economy and Environment Minister Engineer Collins Nzovu said Government
is prioritizing women-led initiatives that are aimed at mitigating climate
change.
The Minister noted that just
like in other countries in the world, climate change in Zambia affects the most
vulnerable sectors of society, which are mainly women.
He said Government has
partnered with various stakeholders to support climate change-related
initiatives by women.
“We have so many plans in
place and supporting women initiatives is something that we are actively
pursuing as Government. For your information, we have partnered with USAID and other
partners to support the production of briquettes.
“So any efforts,
particularly in this direction, are very welcome and as Government, we will
support the women even in a bigger way so that they can increase production of
the briquettes because such initiatives speak directly to reducing
deforestation in the country,” Engineer Nzovu said.
Hopefully, other countries
will emulate Zambia in supporting women lead initiatives that support climate
resilience.
This is also in line with
one of the African Green Stimulus Programme’s key elements- Enhancing Climate
Action which calls on countries to support the implementation of Climate Change
programmes.
Women have a critical role
to play in addressing climate change, by being the engine for climate
initiatives and their engagement in every process of proffering solutions to
climate change can never be over emphasized.
Supporting women’s climate
change initiatives such as making briquettes by women in Mufumbwe District, is
key to working towards more gender-responsive climate solutions that address
structural inequalities, while also pursuing the transition to a greener
economy.
This
article is part of African Women in
Media (AWiM)/United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)- Africa Environmental
Journalism.
