By STANSLOUS NGOSA –
“LOSING hope should be the last thing to think about even when you are facing difficulties in life.
“It is not easy but if you remain focused and put God first in everything that you do nothing can stop you from realising your dreams.”

• MS Kolala in her grocery. Picture By STANSLOUS NGOSA

These were the words of 39-year-old Elifa Kolala of Luansobe farm bloc when asked how she managed to cope with life after she was allegedly abandoned by her husband for unknown reasons.
Luansobe farm bloc is situated on the Lusaka-Ndola Road near the Mpongwe turn-off.

Ms Kolala has three children. The eldest is doing grade 12 while others are in grades one and five, respectively.
She says life became miserable immediately after she was abandoned by her husband.
However, Ms Kolala did not give up on life because she had three children to look after.
To support her children Ms Kolala was forced to do menial jobs at farms near her homestead.
Ms Kolala currently owns a six-hectare farm, a grocery and runs several small businesses within the area.
During those difficult days Ms Kolala used to make about K50 daily and would save half of it which she used as start up capital to start a charcoal business.
“I used to go to Lusaka and Copperbelt to do ‘piece work’ until I raised enough money to start buying my own merchandise to sell,” says Ms Kolala pointing at the grocery and over 150 different bags of charcoal and sweet potatoes.
Ms Kolala also grows maize, sweet and Irish potatoes as well as assorted vegetables.
She has employed two people to help her ran her businesses, this gives her time concentrate on the grocery.
Some of the vegetables she produces include tomatoes, rape, Chinese cabbage, carrots and onions.
Last farming season she harvested over 200 x50 kg bags of maize.
During the farming season she engages people to help her cultivate and harvest because she cannot do this alone.
“Maize farming is labour intensive and yet you don’t get much out of it. If you sell to private millers you make a loss because they want to buy the produce at the lowest price,” Ms Kolala says
She claims that the Food Reserve Agency has not lived up to the expectations of the farmers.
Ms Kolala says Government should come up with ways of buying produce from farmers such as vegetables because most it just goes to waste.
“I am urging the Government set up schemes or industries that would be able to buy our  produce because much of it goes to waste or is sold at low prices and this does not benefit us,” Ms Kolala says.
Ms Kolala claims the private sector exploits the small-scale farmers in her area due to lack of market linkages.
She says establishing factories for value addition to some of the produce could create wealth through the creation of direct and indirect jobs.
“Look at the heaps of tomatoes and mangoes that go to waste, these could    be  made into pastes or jam and sold locally or abroad,” Ms    Kolala says.
Ms Kolala says accessing credit to expand or diversify has been one of the challenges she and other farmers face.
Ms Kolala says she has heard about Government loans but accessing them is a challenge.
She  does not want to belong to any cooperative or any form of grouping because she believes only leaders tend to benefit more than the general membership.
Ms Kolala, however, advised other women not resort to parading themselves in the bars or night clubs to raise money through sex when they could do more productive things.
She said she feels bad to hear stories of women chasing men for money in exchange for sex when they could do  risk-free jobs like selling at the market.
Ms Kolala said some women should not blame anyone for the problems they are going through because they allow themselves be used as sex workers.