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Bongani Ndlovu, Online Reporter

Bulawayo province will this week send 25 for a pig rearing course in Norton as a way to empower them under the Young Women for Economic Development (YW4ED) programme.

YW4ED was launched by the First Lady, Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa, in August this year and the organisation is open to all Zimbabweans regardless of political affiliation and targets women from the ages of 18 to 45.

The 25 will leave today, for the two-day free-of-charge course which starts tomorrow and ends on Wednesday.

One of the women who is embarking on the training, Ms Bridget Mazorodze said she was looking forward to this project.

“I will gain so much knowledge that will enable me to be financially. It will benefit me and my family and everyone else around my sphere of influence and I will be able to create employment. This will develop our province as Bulawayo,” said Ms Mazorodze.

Another beneficiary, Ms Charmain Bosch said she wants to export pigs eventually.

“I have done some research and I want a practical view and I want to learn from people who have done it. Once I start it will be able to create employment and the amount of jobs will increase. I want to eventually export the pigs when I get bigger,” said Ms Bosch.

YW4ED Bulawayo spokesperson Ms Mercy Kayumba said this was one of many projects to empower women from the province.

“Young Women for ED has selected 25 young women from Bulawayo province to go on a pig rearing course in Norton. This is one of the many programs lined up for the development of young women as we try to make them unlock their potential as tools of Economic development,” said Ms Kanyumba.

She said the 25 were chosen as they have shown capacity to use the knowledge gained.

“These women who during the launch in Bulawayo and after, registered that they were farmers and were interested in pig rearing. Some have space to keep the pigs and the criteria we used was to take those who after doing the course will use the knowledge gained and implement it rather than sitting on it,” said Ms Kanyumba.

She said after the course, each woman will receive three pigs each to kick-start their projects.

“The course is free, after doing it the women will be given three pigs each, two sows and a boar. The sows give birth to about 15 piglets each and then, the women will pass over the three to other beneficiaries that will be trained. Hopefully this will empower more women in the province,” said Ms Kanyumba.

Pigs are a popular form of livestock, with more than one billion pigs butchered each year worldwide, 100 millions of them in the USA. The majority of pigs are used for human food but also supply skin, fat and other materials for use as clothing, ingredients for processed foods, cosmetics, and medical use.

@bonganinkunzi