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At 2 592 metres above sea level, Mount Nyangani, is the highest mountain in Zimbabwe. Located within Nyanga National Park in Nyanga District, is about 275 km north-west Mutare, the mountain hosted a unique but important event. A group of women braved the hot summer weather to scale up the mountain. Their motive, to get up the mountain and raise their voices to the authorities to take note of their concerns over land redistribution inequalities among women compared to their male counterparts

The importance of land in Zimbabwe can never be overemphasised. In the campaign about 90 women scaled up the gigantic mountain to communicate their grievances on land ownership in Zimbabwe.

They took time to share heart-rending tales of how their productive potential has remained under-utilised due to the imbalances. Mrs Edna Brown (67) from Kunzwana Communal area in Macheke narrated her ordeal that spurred her to scale the mountain.

“Women have been looked down upon for a long time. This is why we had to hike despite the pain. “The things we are facing on a daily basis are not different from the uphill steep we just went through,” Mrs Brown said.

Her husband’s death left her at the mercy of relatives. With all properties in his name she was exposed. “At my age, my husband`s family control the farm despite us working to acquire it together,” she said.

Mrs Brown cannot make independent decisions on the land without consulting her husband’s family. “I cannot sell the cattle for my family’s upkeep because authorities tell us to bring someone who shares a surname with my late husband,” she said.

The relatives also demand their share of the dividend once the sale has been made. Venah Gavadza from Guruve in Mashonaland Central said authorities need to look into the women`s concerns with land ownership. “As I scaled up the mountain it was my wish that our cries are heard,” Gavadza said.

She raised concern that land ownership was a challenge for all Zimbabwean women. The challenge she faces is that the farm is in her husband`s name. She is, however, worried about her security in the event of her partner’s death.

“When a husband is no longer there, women are left at the mercy of relatives who are greedy and we see these things happening on a daily basis,” Gavadza said. The traditional leadership also placed emphasis on the equal distribution of resources despite the gender of the applicants.

Chief Samhembere, speaking through his sub-chief Tafangehama Samhembere, emphasised the need for equal opportunities. “There is nothing wrong with giving people equal opportunities, as the traditional leadership we are behind these women in their pleas,” he said.

Chief Samhembere said it was high time Zimbabweans appreciate the importance of women in the community, especially on the land issue. “We have no problems with women owning land in our areas, I am sure the majority of the traditional leadership share the same sentiment,” he said.

The women also handed over a charter Gender, Women Affairs and Community Development Minister Nyasha Chikwinya.

The charter listed their concerns.

The charter was drawn with the assistance from a number of entities involved in women`s welfare which include Oxfam, Action Aid, Women and Land Zimbabwe as well as Women`s Coalition of Zimbabwe among others.

It outlines the space between policy on paper and its implementation.

“We urge the Government to close the gap between law and practice as well as the implementation of policies to promote women’s access to and control of productive resources such as land.

“It should also ensure extension support, markets and financial services work for women,” reads part of the Charter.

There were also calls to free some of the land for the women who are eligible for land allocation.

“Accommodate more women in land allocations that might be freed up by the land audit.

“Consolidate the gains and momentum of land reform in ways that ensure equitable apportionment of the benefits,” it reads.

The women also raised concern over unequal representation of women in land related decision-making structures.

There were also calls to align Zimbabwe`s customary laws with the 2013 constitution as well as to use agricultural land as a tool to promote gender equality in the country.

Minister Chikwinya signed the acknowledgement of the charter and promised to carry the cries of the women to the executive.

“When we went into the liberation struggle, land was the main reason why we had to cross to Mozambique to learn to fight.

“We understood that without land nothing much can be done,” he said.

Minister Chikwinya said the liberation struggle was a multi-strata aspect which needed to be approached in stages.

“When we got our independence in 1980, we were just at the first phase of our war of liberation. We are now on economic liberation.

“If this economic liberation is to have meaning we need to address the land issue.”

Minister Chikwinya recounted how efforts to unshackle the land from the claws of the colonialist government took the lives of many men and women.

She said there was no gender classification during the liberation war hence the same policy should be observed in land re-distribution.

“I am taking all these concerns to the Cabinet in the coming three weeks and I am going to tell the President that women are now pushing for their equal recognition in land allocation and ownership,” Minister Chikwinya said.

She, however, warned the women that the feat cannot be achieved overnight and there was need for patience in gaining the audience of the national leadership.

“As we wait for our case, women who own farms should show intent by being productive on the small portions of land available to them as we speak”, she said.

She warned unscrupulous female farmers to desist from malpractice such as subletting farms as it plays against their cause in lobbying with the Cabinet.

The cries from women for land have not escaped the eye of the civic society who have lamented the imbalance in land ownership and distribution.

Oxfam’s deputy country director Kevin Ndemera said women were the unsung chords in Zimbabwe`s agricultural ballade.

“In Zimbabwe, 70 percent of agricultural labour is provided by women. Women make up 70 percent of the rural population and 86 percent of those in farming activities are women.

“However, despite women doing most of the work on the land they often face the biggest battle to call this land their own,” he said.

He said Zimbabwean women are much less likely to own land compared to men on either both customary land, and resettled land.

The allocation of land in most communal settings is still male steered.

“The majority of Zimbabwe’s population live in customary tenure areas where land is governed by patriarchal systems.

“As a result, men are the primary landholders, and women negotiate access to land through their male relations – relying on fathers, brothers, husbands, uncles or male-dominated traditional authorities for land,” Ndemera said.

The need for an increase in the number of female-owned farms is accentuated by the numerical gap between men and women holding deeds to the land masses across the country.

“Despite women making up 70 percent of the rural population, only 18 percent of beneficiaries of A1 land reform and 12 percent under A2,” he said.

The statistics show that Zimbabwe still falls short in balancing up ownership of perhaps the most pertinent resource in the country.

The requests are validated by the constitution which supports equality on all frontiers.

According to Section 17 (1) (c) of the Constitution; “ the State and all institutions and agencies of government at every level must take practical measures to ensure that women have access to resources including land ,on the basis of equality with men.”

Some of the women who braved the Mount Nyangani height proceeded to Tanzania to go up Mount Kilimanjaro to show solidarity with their regional counterparts in voicing their respective concerns.

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