BULAWAYO Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA) has introduced a market aggregation, linkage and innovation project where members participate in internal savings and lending groups to instil a culture of using money wisely.
The programme also seeks to grow members’ money through savings and investments as well as provide access to loans for investment.
BVTA director Michael Ndiweni revealed that the project would be implemented in Matabeleland North (Umguza), Matabeleland South (Matobo and Umzingwane) and Bulawayo Metropolitan provinces.
“The project seeks to improve access to markets and income for 150 growth-oriented smallholder farmers and 1 200 informal traders through the use of the human rights-based approach and gender transformative approach to promote the enjoyment of the right to food in communities with a deliberate bias towards women,” he said.
Ndiweni revealed that the project seeks to realise re-organised and energised informal traders with the capacity to claim their right to food, increased access to the right to food, food security and reduced impact on the environment and resilient communities in times of disasters.
“It also seeks to achieve improved standards of living for smallholder farmers and informal traders particularly women, expand smallholder farmers and informal traders’ business opportunities and improve households’ fair incomes for smallholder farmers, particularly women,” he said.
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Ndiweni said the internal savings groups were meant to support smallholder farmers and informal traders to improve their incomes and support their businesses.
The project is implemented with support from We Effect, a Swedish organisation, and other partners such as Emthonjeni Womens Forum, Leonard Cheshire Disability Zimbabwe, Self Help Development Foundation; and Women and Law in Southern Africa.
Meanwhile, Ndiweni said the project complemented the safe markets and urban resilience project which was launched in the past.