The Sunday News
Nkosilathi Sibanda, Features Correspondent
MAKING a living out of growing crops in Lupane is wishful thinking to any farmer. The sands of this semi -arid area present an always bleak hope to farmers who have never got any joy in growing crops. Coupled with a scanty rainfall pattern, the reserves of Lupane present an alarming hunger and poverty scene that crumbles the very notch of food security and subsistence in homesteads.
This year the rains were good and most of villagers are expecting a bumper harvest. The wet season has brought hope to the people of Lupane. While some people toiled hard to get joy from their crops, there are some women who will make a killing from the lush forests in the area.
In these natural forests, there lies an abundance of wealth- the palm plant, known as ilala in isiNdebele. This is the tree that has been in the cultural fray of the people. Through the art of weaving, women have passed down to generations a tradition that has since been a beacon to the economic lives of women.
The ilala plant is an indigenous specie in the western part of Zimbabwe and grows in the untapped Lupane woodland well known for its biodiversity that has vast economic benefits.
History as told by the women of Lupane has it that in the African culture, crafts made from ilala date back a long time. The ilala leaves are harvested and cut into strands that are made to dry in the sun and an assortment of crafts for domestic use would be made.
It was all done to preserve the custom of weaving not for monetary gain. But, now women in Lupane no longer weave for pleasure. They sell the ilala crafts and make a “killing” from the sales. The plant is now called the “money tree” because weavers are earning money that they could not dream of, had they stayed on and relied on crop farming only.
The liberalisation of Zimbabwe’s trading currency regime brought more joy to the weavers of Lupane and the international market injected more of the valuable foreign currency. Even the bond notes are proving to be the panacea to the lot of economic problems affecting women.
It took a group of innovative women to realise that there is money to weaving baskets and like crafts from ilala. Long periods of unproductive agriculture and the need to economically empower themselves, drove these women to establish the then Lupane Women Centre.
Weaving baskets, mats and other craft was the sole business of the institution. In order to come out with quality crafts that will fetch a high price on the market, there was a need to train weavers in essential business and marketing skills.
That has worked well and weaving is becoming profitable than farming to some women. If these women claim to make an average of $700 a month out of selling wares, then they have every reason to smile to this newly found economic freedom.
Now christened Lupane Women Development Centre, the institution’s weaving programme continues to transform women who use it to create high quality and on demand baskets, mats, decorative crafts and coffins. Out of these products, the women weavers sell to local and international markets for a good price. Good enough to sustain families and uplift their economic lifestyle, there is more to the culture of weaving ilala in this community.
It is a money spinning venture. From crafts sales, the women record an increase every year and the profits. In 2010, the Centre posted $7 738, in 2012 the figures surged to $20 391. As of 2015, the combined annual sales rose to more than $30 000.
LWDT manager Hildegard Mufukare reckons that on average, individual monthly earnings from the sale of wares increased from $1 to $50 in the last five years.
“The aim is to tackle hunger by helping weavers become breadwinners,” said Mufukare.
“Weavers at Lupane Women Development Trust have changed their lives for the better, thanks to the ilala tree. Women who are members here started off with very little in 2001. By then it was normal for one to go for a month having sold a craft for a dollar. After five or so years, some got as much as $50.”
Mufukare said their major cash cow has been the European market. Polished crafts are shipped to ready markets in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and the US.
The trick in earning so much is the joint efforts of all the members.
“We work as a team. All the women encourage each other to come up with the best grade of baskets,” said Mrs Sylvia Nyathi the chairlady of LWDT. In 2005 there were 14 weavers at the institution. In 2055, 400 weavers from Lupane’s 28 wards had joined. Interestingly, ten of them were male.
After realising that women were making money from weaving, men could resist the lure. LWDT recently launched a book-
Our craft, Our pride: The story of Lupane community weavers. In the book, one male weaver, Mr Muzobanzi Moyo testifies that he was inspired by the women to be a weaver. Mr Moyo is said to have bought livestock and sometimes makes more money that the women.
Mrs Christella Ncube of Shabula village said she built a house after earning a lot from weaving.
“My life has changed and I am now able to pay my children’s school fees without asking from their father. I have built a modern brick and mortar house for the family.”
There are some who have bought goats and erected fences on their homesteads. According to Mrs Mufukare, LWDT does periodic weaving competitions from which weavers present their best works and get credit. The process of weaving can be learned but it takes patience.
“Weavers thread the water-softened strands and curl them into tough baskets. These are then used to make baskets and other functional crafts,” said Mrs Mufukare.
Most weavers from Lupane now can afford to serve three meals a day to their families – showing a big change of lifestyle in a community previously hard hit by hunger. For a community that was barely able to put three square meals on the table every day, this is a huge step towards a more wholesome life.
