Jennifer Mulengu
Zambia
"Something that took two years to build can take days to destroy," says Jennifer Mulengu, a 39 year old farmer based just outside of drought-ravaged Choma in the Southern Province of Zambia. Her story is one of incredible entrepreneurial spirit that provides so much hope for the future of Zambia. But it is also an all too typical case of an empowered woman who just can't seem to get ahead in traditional African society.
When the German governmental development organization, GTZ, was searching for outstanding lead farmers to support, Jennifer was an easy choice. She was selected to attend a workshop in Zimbabwe on soap making using the seed oil from an uncommon plant called Jatropha. Her keen interest in agroforestry and desire to improve her livelihood on her own had already prompted her to experiment with such unknown plants when all of her neighbours were focussed solely on growing rain-sensitive maize (corn) in a drought-prone region. Jennifer was also well known in the area for her willingness to assist others and share new ideas with fellow farmers.
"To take up Jatropha was interesting. When I came to know Jatropha, I knew I could make money as selling seedlings was seasonal," she says. She returned from Zimbabwe and promptly planted 1500 more Jatropha trees, but most of them succumbed to termite attacks. This setback didn't slow her down though, and she started a farmer training centre with the financial support of GTZ, where she provided training on the benefits of the Jatropha plant and how to make soap from it. She also conducted peer workshops to diagnose common problems and generate solutions using a participatory approach. That's when she discovered that perceptions of problems were very different between men and women, leading her to include gender sensitization training within families as part of the training.
The demand for the training was so great that she started building a guest house to accommodate visiting farmers using mud bricks hardened by her own hand-built kiln. She also wanted to set a positive example for those who attended these workshops, and started making improvements to her household. She built a fishpond to earn some extra income and a compost toilet to make human manure for her farm. Her latest project was an ox-cart to make it easier to haul in the annual maize crop.
Unfortunately, there was one person who didn't appreciate Jennifer's hard work: her own husband. He became jealous of the attention being paid to her and took issue with the fact that she was undertaking work traditionally done by men. As a result, he took a second wife, which is common among men in the Tongan tribe. When he was transferred to teach at another school, Jennifer remained but his family forced her into a divorce and kicked her off the land.
"My husband was supportive (in the beginning) but the problem was he was a polygamist... I didn't want to move because my fellow women would see what happens when a woman is empowered. It was his decision to push me out."
She tells this story without a shred of hesitation or self doubt. Her energy is infectious, and she possesses an aura as if she just knows that nothing can stop her now. But she faces an uphill battle in a society where the contributions of women are restricted to domestic labour and child bearing. Men traditionally control the income and are owners of the land. Jennifer had no choice to leave, and is now left to rebuild from scratch.
"When people are working as a couple, things are more for the man. But if you took a video camera at the beginning you would see who did everything—it was me. In the end, his relatives said I get nothing."
Now, all that is left is the skeleton of a training centre, a half-finished guest house, and rows upon rows of Jatropha trees that are not being harvested. The sign at the entrance of the farm that proudly bares the name 'Jennifer Mulengu's Farmer Training Centre' still stands, but Jennifer is not there. However, that doesn't mean she's difficult to find.
This past year drought has hit hard in Southern Province with up to 90% crop failure in some districts. Jennifer has been working with a neighbouring farming couple to grow drought-resistant cassava (a tuber crop that is a staple food in other parts of Africa but not Zambia) while she tries to rebuild her own life. Their farm is also bursting with her signature of a human manure compost toilet, two fish farms, and living hedge of Jatropha trees, all of which she says she helped to establish. This couple has so far avoiding the same fate as Jennifer and her husband because they have followed her advice on mitigating family conflict.
"First, bring them together as a couple and go under gender sensitization activities. [Then,] even if they don't agree they can do it as a family."
These are important lessons to be learned for organizations participating in development activities in traditional societies, particularly those aimed at empowering women that fail to take into account men. Projects that lack a holistic approach and disregard cultural implications all too often fail because of reasons such as family conflict and husband jealousy. And the good intentions aimed at supporting people like Jennifer also run the risk of harming them if a thoughtful approach is not taken.
In the meantime though, Jennifer is not giving up and will continue to persevere. "I'm still continuing and sharing my knowledge with my fellow women," she says with a self-assuring tone. Her fellow women will surely appreciate the support.
by Mike Quinn, EWB overseas volunteer
