Tendai Rupapa

ANGEL of Hope Foundation, led by its patron First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa, has established a mixed farming project in Glendale which employs women and youths in the area on contract.

The women and youths were previously not gainfully employed and some young girls had turned into prostitution to eke out a living after dropping out of school.

They have now been economically empowered while learning various agricultural processes and getting a chance to go back to school.

Already, a good number of them are attending evening classes using their earnings to pay fees.
The farming operations come at a time when the First Lady, through her foundation is working with over 20 families on a vegetable production project at Noharm Farm in Beatrice.

The projects dovetail with empowerment and value addition schemes being rolled out by the First Lady, who has gone across all the country’s provinces establishing projects for the benefit of communities.

The recently acquired Angel of Hope Farm grows maize, carrots, cabbages, tomatoes, butter-nuts and has a fish farming venture, among a host of other projects.

The foundation, which has a board, is not State-funded and raises its own money from partners and well-wishers.
Apart from being a non-profit organisation, the farming project by Angel of Hope Foundation shows zeal to open financial avenues without just waiting for donor support.

Amai Mnangagwa spent the better part of the day working in the fields pruning cabbages and weeding.
She said it was the first farming project by Angel of Hope Foundation.

“Angel of Hope Foundation is a non-profit organisation which strives to assist those in need so we want to cultivate crops here to assist the country’s citizens in marginalised communities and those in need,” she said.

“We will be taking the produce to various markets and the money we realise will go towards supporting the projects we are initiating for women countrywide.

“We employed people from Glendale community so that they are able to feed their families.
“I want this project to assist members of that community of Glendale. I am also going to give the elderly women in this area the small grains seed.”

The youths working at the farm thanked the First Lady for giving them a new lease of life saying they had lost hope.
Farm manager Mr Togara Muvengwa said while most of the projects at the farm are up and running, there was need for a solar booster to enhance irrigation capacity and production.

After her work in Glendale, Amai Mnangagwa and her team headed for Noharm Farm in Seke where 28 families are being assisted by Angel of Hope Foundation in their vegetable production.

The First Lady buys their produce and dries them before giving them to homes, marginalised communities, less-privileged members of the society and those in the Cyclone Idai-hit areas.

Amai Mnangagwa received a rousing welcome from the families which, up today, appear to be counting themselves lucky to be working with her.

The families get inputs and other requirements from Angel of Hope Foundation which also provides a market for their produce.
The families could not hide their joy as they broke into song and dance.

Mrs Concilia Munondo (71) said, “Amai has done to us so much in a short space of time and as a community we are grateful that she has remembered us. It is indeed a blessing to be remembered let alone visited by the First Lady.”

Her colleagues shared similar sentiments saying they can now afford to plan for the future banking on the programme.
“This relationship is paying off well for us. It can only be God who answers prayers in such ways.

“The First Lady has done wonders for us as we now no longer worry about the market for our produce,” said Mrs Josephine Musiiwa.
She donated small grains seed to the families.

The First Lady is also into poultry at her offices at Zimbabwe House and it is part of Angel of Hope projects.
Angel of Hope also introduced another project whereby they are working with women on value addition of farming produce. They introduced gardening and orchards in various marginalised communities so they are now adding value to the products.

One of the foundation’s board members, Mrs Rachel Nield-Geranios, praised the First Lady’s initiative on value addition, which she said started at the Glendale farm.

“We are working on agricultural projects with women in various communities. We have been teaching them on how to grow the products, now we are focusing on value addition. So initially we doing the packaging on a small-scale. We are teaching them how to preserve their products and we have since made mango prickle, cabbage prickle, tomato jam and sweet marmalade. The cabbage prickle is being made at Angel of Hope farm,” she said.

After packaging, Mrs Nield-Geranios, said farmers will be able to keep their products longer.
“For instance, oranges might go off after some time, but if they make marmalade using the oranges, it can stay on the shelf for some time. It can be for their self-sustaining with their families or for income-generating. The idea is to provide value addition.
“There are other costs to living other than just eating. These women have bills to pay, clothes to put on, school fees to pay hence they need financial back-up.

“With value addition, life will be easier for them.
“The long-term plan is to set up facilities where women can work together on this newly introduced project and as Angel of Hope Foundation we will help them in finding a market. We want to thank the First Lady for leading us.”