Real Life in the Studio

Tonight's programme on Think Globally Radio included Ms. Camilla Lundberg Ney, Communication & Advocacy Officer together with Björn Lindh, Chief Communication Officer from the Swedish Cooperative Centre (SCC - wonderful work being done there!), who discussed their great report will discuss their latest report on biofuels and African farming. In the studio we also had a special guest, Ms. Edith Mashoko. Edith, in her soft-spoken and eloquent way, related for the listeners the trials and tribulations faced by small-scale farmers such as herself in Zambia and elswhere. She was in Sweden to participate the Cooperative Center's 50th anniversary celebration, visiting with Swedes to talk about her life in Zambia and how her life had iproved thanks to support from SCC.

Edith is 35 years old and comes from Choma, Zambia, a small village 50 KM south of Lusaka. She has one son, but is also the caretaker of her deceased siblings' four children. She lives in a very simple house on her parent's farm, without electricity or running water (the nearest well is 3 KM away). She grows vegetables and fruits on her farm, and raises cattle. She is also beginning to grow crops for use in biofutles. She is a member of the Zambian National Farmers' Union, where she is an enthusiastic and ambitious participant in study circles and training sessions (attending sessions and then sharing the knowledge in Choma). Thanks to the support from SCC to ZNFU (a collaborative partnership rather than a donor-recipient relationship) she has been able to improve her income and, for example, afford to pay the school fees for all five children.

Zambia has faced many years of drought, and since November of last year, it has suffered from heavy rains. Many fields are flooded and roads as well as houses have been destroyed. In the fields some crops have been rotting and there has been little left for consumption and to take to market.

But Edith is not phased; indeed, she is continuing to work to improve her farm and the lives of those who depend on her. She has, for example, been able to use mobile phone bidding to take her products to market (costs for the phone coverage provided by SCC). Having such a nice, dignified guest on the programme was a real treat for Eric, Jimmy and Dave.