Vodacom has partnered with Department of Basic Education is on the mission to empower female farmers with digital literacy in a bid to fight poverty.
The digital literacy skill will help in the day-to-day running of the farming business through a mobile app called Connect the Farmer.
According to the Land portal study, 69% of women in rural area are living in poverty.
The digital literacy initiative shines the spotlight on emerging small-scale women farmers. The programme is designed to empower women to own their own land to farm, says Vodacom chief officer in corporate affairs Takaleni Netshitezhe.
Netshitezhe says the initiative is centred on women only because women play an important role in society “and in our day-to-day activities as Vodacom, we experience a lot of challenges that are experienced by women and also by small businesses”.
Women in rural areas lack digital literacy which prevents them from accessing the app.
Education Department and Vodacom, has taken it upon themselves to assist women with digital literacy training.
“We had a choice as Vodacom to walk away from the partnership and go and work with the commercial farmers but because the Vodacom Foundation’s work is rooted in supporting people that come from disadvantaged areas.” “We had to leverage the partnership we had with the Department of Basic Education and provide the women with basic computer literacy skills and basic business management skills,” Netshitezhe explains.
The initiative has been rolled out in four provinces namely KwaZulu- Natal, Free State, Eastern Cape and Limpopo. It is currently training 600 women with the aim of reaching 1000 by the end of the year.
