The Sunday Mail
Bulawayo Bureau
Senior Reporter
INDLOVUKAZI is a praise title reserved for female monarchs, especially Ndebele, Zulu or Eswatini.
And First Lady Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa’s love and compassion has endeared her to the Matabeleland region and earned her the title.
She has done a lot to improve the lives of women and children.
Last week, the First Lady visited Bulawayo and met spouses of chiefs from both Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.
She took advantage of the gathering to distribute traditional grain seeds, which she implored communities to grow to insulate against the vagaries of climate change.
It is believed that the endeavour would naturally improve food security and nutrition by creating Zunde Ramambokadzi/Isiphala Samakhosikazi Ezinduna.
The gesture comes at a time the nation is grappling with negative effects of climate change, which have triggered unfavourable weather patterns that have affected crops such as maize.
This has naturally led to a shift towards drought-resistant traditional grains.
The First Lady said it was the duty of amakhosikazi to start small by introducing traditional meals in the family diet.
“You start by giving small portions (to the family), they will take one teaspoon today, the next it will be two and that way you will see that you are winning,” she said.
“This is a war that we have to fight and win. Some women who have adhered to this clarion call are doing well indeed, such as in Mudzi, they are growing the grains and the children also take part in working in the fields because this is where their livelihoods are.”
The First Lady said she intends to introduce competitions where provinces will demonstrate how best they are promoting the growth of traditional grains and eating traditional meals.
She called on amakhosikazi to be approachable and respectful to other women in the community and adopt an open-door policy so that women can air their grievances.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event to donate traditional grains to chiefs’ wives, Mrs Phindile Mkhwananzi — wife to Chief Ngungumbane of Mberengwa — said the First Lady was transforming lives in communities throughout the country.
“The donation of seed helps us amakhosikazi in that climate change is real, and the rains do not fall as they used to before,” said Mrs Mkhwananzi.
“Traditional grains do not require a lot of water and are drought-resistant. The hunger that has been affecting communities where we come from will definitely be a thing of the past now that we have been empowered.”
Mrs Mkhwananzi said other than growing traditional grains, they had also benefited through healthcare programmes.
“We have learnt a lot from Amai’s health programmes, she leads from the front by going to get screened for breast and cervical cancer and women follow,” she said.
“When we take back the messages to our communities and encourage women to go for screening, they do because they would have seen the First Lady doing the same. So, she stands as a role model.”
Mrs Regina Shana, wife to Chief Shana of Hwange in Matabeleland North, showered the First Lady with praises for supporting them in feeding the nation. “We thank her for the assistance she has given us, the goats she gave us are growing in numbers,” she said.
“Today we got the traditional grains and vegetables, we are grateful. We have goats for meat, vegetables and the sorghum and millet meal.
“These are the foods we used to eat when we were growing up. We used to eat maize just for leisure but our diet was based on these traditional grains.”
