A group of women filled with the zeal to work have achieved more than they could imagine. Rupeputso self-help group in ward 11 under Zezayi village which is 18kms south of Chirumanzu District have been able establish their own food processing enterprise. This all-women self-help group was formed in 2019 with 7 members.

The self-help group received modular trainings as well as technical skills trainings in 2019 under the Jobs for Zimbabwe project. Through these trainings they started their enterprise in food processing by drying vegetables and traditional tea. They also started producing dairy drinks.

Since they had a solar dryer which they were not utilizing, it took mentoring and coaching the self-help group to help them realise the value of the asset.

In November 2020, the self-help group was one of the participants in the second phase of MLP competitions, they took the 5^th position and got a seed grant of inputs and equipment worth USD 500.00. This grant capacitated their enterprise to the extent that it enhanced their income.

The self-help group increased their saving from USD 1.00 per month to USD 5.00 per person monthly.

The self-help group further received technical skills training on food handling from ministry of Health and Childcare. This training improved the quality of their dairy drink product and this helped their sales to scale up. As a result, the group managed to buy a commercial housing stand at their village shopping center which they now use as their area of operation.

Currently each member gets a payout of USD$60.00 after per month. This has boosted their livelihoods as they can now cater for their household’s needs.

The group’s chairperson said their main aim is to produce quality products which will enable them to reach bigger markets and become reputable suppliers of their products.