Source: The Herald
Women entrepreneurs showcasing their wares at this year's edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair put up impressive exhibitions of good quality products, the First Lady, Amai Grace Mugabe, said. Amai Mugabe was speaking soon after touring stands at the fair last week where she particularly commended the ZRP Kuyedza Women's Club and exhibitions by women from Malawi.

"I was very impressed with the women this year, especially at the Malawi stand. They are producing quality goods, even the small grains that were on display, one could tell that they were quality seeds.

"Women are our unsung heroes, they do work behind the scenes and they do it very well. The women's club belonging to the ZRP also did a good job.

"Their handmade products are very innovative and they should keep up the good work," she said.

The ZRP Kuyedza Women's Club, which is a coalition of police officers' wives, was showcasing a variety of handmade products and detergents for the first time at the fair.

The women are into beading, plastic sculpture, embroidery, piggery, poultry, horticulture and detergents.

The club's administrator, Superintendent Fortunate Chirara, said the fair had presented them with a lot of business opportunities which they intended to pursue.

"We have had many enquiries about our products and we hope that the contacts we made here will come through and help us take these women to another level and also contribute to the economic growth of our country," she said.

Also of note was the Lupane women's centre that had impressive works of art on show. The club showcased the handiwork of 400 crafters who are part of a group of 3 000 women who do self help projects.

The club's marketing officer, Mrs Khayelihle Ndlovu, said their new innovation, the eco-coffin, had drawn the attention of many people at the fair.

"The coffin is wholly made of grass and we have had an export order of 10 adult coffins for the UK. We have also had many enquiries from locals who said they were interested in our products," she said.

She said the women were very innovative and had come up with a clothing line made from grass that would be showcased at the Harare International Festival of the Arts.

• Zimbabwe