This couple is one of a group of 20 couples – young farmers – who benefitted from gender equality training. The training empowers women through self-mastery, which encourages women to understand themselves, grooming and self-confidence.
Mrs Hondo was quick to point out that she is now confident to go to the markets to negotiate prices, as well as supervise the work on the fields. The training also dealt with issues of masculinity and improved appreciation of gender roles.
Mr Hondo shared how this training has impacted him, “I am now more sensitive to how my wife spends her time and I make an effort to help around the house. I have also made an effort to consult my wife and we make our decisions together”.
The training for gender equality also reached community leaders, improving their appreciation of women’s productive and reproductive roles and their needs. “In the past, people used to laugh at us for going to our field, hand in hand and the rumor was that my wife had used love portions on me. But now the trendy thing in our village is to show affection to your wife” chuckled Mrs Hondo.
Working conditions
We had gone to witness a pilot project, which aimed to assist smallholder farmers to improve productivity, working and living conditions through the Work Improvement and Neighborhood Development (WIND) methodology.
This participatory, action-oriented and low cost approach contributes to the reduction of occupational hazards associated with the agricultural sector. With ILO support, farmers were taught to identify risks and develop strategies to manage them. Farmers, such as the Hondo’s are increasingly making use of protective clothing, better managing the work environment and controlling hazards.
Improvements that the family made, include the redesign of their work implements to ensure that they work in their fields with better postures. They have also constructed a shade to store inputs, and to take breaks while at work, as well as a make shift bathing station.
“We use chemicals in our fields, so we realized that we used to take these substances home. Now, we bath on site and change our clothes, before we go home”
Living condition
The improvements made by the family are not confined to their working conditions. A heightened appreciation of risks in their living environment encouraged the family to improve their welfare facilities. A new and improved kitchen has been constructed at the home. The kitchen was designed with WIND principles in mind.
The design made provisions for comfortable living spaces and storage of utensils. A key challenge in most rural homes is the smoke from the cooking fire. In addition to the chimney, the Hondo’s placed their windows in a way that promotes cross ventilation. “We are not yet done, we are now moving to replace our straw toilets with a new structure and we hope to be done with it before the rains arrive”, declared Mrs Hondo.
Productivity
They sat under a tree, gazing at each other in silence, while watching their three daughters run around the family home. She turns her head and gets up, as we announce our presence.
Hand in hand, our hosts walk over to welcome us. We exchange greetings with the couple and tease them for their open display of affection. Mr Hondo justifies himself, “We have matured as a couple, we now enjoy working, living and enjoying life together”. “We get along immensely well because we now actively look to see how we can help each other in the home and in our fields”, adds Mrs Hondo.
After the completion of the new family kitchen, Mr Hondo noticed that he had some waste metal lying around. Applying the WIND principles, he designed a tool that is similar to a rake that he would use to draw lines to mark his fields in preparation for planting carrots. “I have cut down on the time I spend marking my field and the spacing between my crops is now more consistent”, he said.
Community cooperation
It was also notable that the farmers who had benefited from the WIND training had made a number of improvements to their community, in groups.
The methodology appears to encourage cooperation among farmers. Mr and Mrs Hondo joined hands with four other couples to design and build a washing bay for their produce – carrots. The new bay is much more environmentally friendly, safer for the farmers and improves the quality of their produce.
As we bid farewell to the family, it is hard not to be touched by the level of optimism the couple exudes and the levels of confidence they now have.
Work on OSH is part of the Zimbabwe Decent Work Country Programme and contributes to the achievement of the policy outcome, “Protection of workers from unacceptable forms of work”. Work in this area will strengthen the capacity of local actors to protect vulnerable workers in line with international labour standards. The work will contribute results towards eliminating child labour, promoting Occupational Safety and Health at work and reducing the impact of HIV and AIDS through workplace policies and economic empowerment programmes.
