Innovative women here are traveling far and wide to exchange potatoes for the basic necessities to clothe and feed their families.
Mount Darwin is one of the districts worst affected by hunger this year, due to the severe drought in the last farming season. The women work for the potatoes at local irrigation schemes. They then use the potatoes in barter schemes to get clothes and blankets.
“Given the prevailing economic hardships, we have no choice but to labour at the irrigation schemes to earn an income for our families,” said Miriam Kwenda, 46, from Tsanza Village.
She explained how she and her colleagues used public transport to ferry the bags of potatoes to Harare, Marondera, Rusape and Mutare where they exchanged them with shoes, clothes and blankets.
“A $3 packet of potatoes can be exchanged for clothing items that we can re-sell for grain worth $10. In this way we can afford to put three decent meals on the family table every day and afford school fees,’’ said Kwenda.