Kwale women urged to embrace agribusiness for financial independence

Women in Kwale County have been urged to embrace agribusiness to achieve financial independence and boost food security.

While sensitising women in Vigujini, Ms Mwanasha Gaserego, the founder of Nuri Women Group and Tuwajali Wajane, who is also a human rights activist, stated on Friday that women in the region are obliged to suffer gender-based violence because they lack financial independence.

She believes when women are financially empowered then they will be able to get away from various forms of abuse and shun barbaric cultures that are meant to oppress them.

"Women especially those without education are afraid of getting out of toxic marriages because they have no means of providing for themselves," she said.

Ms Gaserego observes that the majority of women own land but do not know how to profit from it.

Nuri Women Group Founder Ms Mwanasha Gaserego showing some of the vegetables they grow. Photo: Mishi Gongo

"Many people in this area still use outdated methods of farming which results in poor yields. But if we can embrace agribusiness and use proper ways then we can be sure to boost food security as well as achieve financial independence," she said.

She told the Eastleigh Voice that her initiative targets widows, women living with disabilities, and teen mothers.

"We have Al Shabaab widows who are discriminated against by the community because of their husband's involvement with terrorist groups. No one wants to get involved with them. Some have been dismissed from their places of work and no one wants to hire them for fear of being labelled a sympathizer. So we help them find means to feed themselves and their children," said Ms Gaserego.

"We also have cases where women are sent away with children immediately after their husbands pass on. Another vulnerable group is women living with a disability, where in some families they get sexually abused or are mistreated and nobody helps them get justice," she said.

Ms Gaserego stated that it is time for rural women to be equipped with income-generating opportunities so that they can meet their necessities.

"We have women who cannot even use family planning because their husbands have forbidden them. You find a 26-year-old woman with about five children with less than a two-year gap. They do not like this but do not know how to defend themselves," said Ms Gaserego.

Some of the beneficiaries of Nuri Women Group. Photo: Mishi Gongo

She teaches women how to use modern methods of farming. They plant kale, tomatoes, onions and bananas for their consumption and selling.

Founder of Happy Sisters Ms Christine Amani said most marital conflicts are about finances.

Ms Christine insisted that empowering women in the rural to use their lands to make money will reduce some of the conflicts and teen pregnancies that are rampant in Kwale.

"When you question teen mothers most of them will tell you that they were impregnated by a man who has been funding their expenses such as sanitary towels, panties and pocket money since their parents can not provide for them. So we feel if a mother can have her own money then they can easily meet her children especially girls' needs," she said.

In some instances, it is the mother who pushes the teenage girls to men.

"Some parents go as far as pushing their daughters to men because of the goodies that come with the relationship. A man would buy sugar and other food stuff for the girls to take to her mother so that she is not denied permission to meet him," she said.