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Elita Chikwati Senior Reporter
Women’S Affairs, Gender and Community Development Minister Nyasha Chikwinya said her ministry will soon establish an exhibition park where women can showcase their products and attract viable markets. She said this at a prize-giving ceremony for women who had the best exhibits at the Home Industries section at the Harare Agricultural Show.

Cde Chikwinya said although women were producing high quality products, they were failing to attract lucrative markets. “I was impressed by the products that were exhibited by women, but they lack recognition and therefore are not getting meaningful profits from their work. We buy cakes from retail outlets, but I have seen better cakes. We should promote the women and ensure they have access to markets even outside the country,” she said.

Cde Chikwinya said most women send their children to school using proceeds from their hand-made goods. “An exhibition centre will enable women to showcase their products to a wider range of clientele. This will also attract tourists,” she said. She said the skills the women possessed were an advantage in that everyone could earn a living even without having gone to conventional schools.

“These skills should be imparted to the youths and with the modern technology, they will go far and be more creative. “Long back, girls were taught sewing, homecraft and they developed their skills. This should continue so that those who do not excel academically can still earn a living. We still have old people to teach and we should make use of them,” she said.

Cde Chikwinya said she was going to work with First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe as she is also interested in empowering women. “By the end of the year, we should have established the centre. This is Zim-Asset and value addition at its best,” she said.