Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA) has revealed that the Nkulumane fruits and vegetables wholesale market will be conducive for children brought to work by their parents as they will have their playing stations and will also integrate the aspect of upskilling through learning for informal traders.
BVTA, in partnership with Bulawayo City Council (BCC), Dan Church Aid, and UNDP Zimbabwe, is involved in the construction of the safe market and green solutions market, spearheaded by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works.
Most of the time, informal traders, especially women, go with their children to their marketplace, including the streets.
In an interview with CITE on the Breakfast Club, BVTA executive director Michael Ndiweni said the market, strategically positioned due to transport interchange, has 16 bays, and farmers from different areas will have the opportunity to come and sell their products.
He said the market is a safe working space for all weather conditions and caters to the needs of women.
“It has several services; we have toilets that are going to be tailored for the special needs of women with sanitary dispensers, bathrooms designed to provide flat beds for changing children’s nappies,” he said.
Ndiweni said the market is also going to have a play station for children.
“We are going to provide play stations for kids outside because most of the time it’s all about the vendor, but there is a woman with a child who has to play somewhere, no one cares about that. A woman during the monthly cycle has to change when they are working, no one cares about that. The toilets will be even dirty; no one cares about it, so here we are going to make sure that the toilets are going to be properly managed,” he said.
He said they are going to set up a committee that is going to manage the market and ensure that people are working well.
Meanwhile, Ndiweni said they are going to merge the learning part as part of the efforts to capacitate informal traders.
“The other aspect that we are going to integrate is learning. We want to introduce soft skills around business development, agro-enterprise training, and other training that we think can add value, financial literacy that can add value to a farmer but also a trader who is going to be using this market.”
“It’s kind of a model market that we want people to come and learn even from the region of Matabeleland but also maybe the nation at large,” he said.
He added, “We are also going to put televisions here so that they get news. A trader wakes up in the morning, maybe around 5 am, boards the kombi and goes to the market, sells their products, and goes home, but a lot is happening outside in terms of current affairs. We want people to get information about what is happening around them so that they also participate in other public spaces beyond just spending the day selling here.”
Ndiweni said the market will also employ the best practices of waste management.
“This market also integrates green solutions to say how best we can manage waste, and what incomes we can generate from waste. We are trying also to bring ideas on waste management. The waste from here will be transported to a waste sorting site. Our partner has secured a waste crushing machine.”
“We have an off-grid solar system; we have 13 solar panels, thus an off-grid solar system that is going to illuminate this market. We are not going to rely mainly on electricity but an off-grid solar system,” he said.
He said the market also has a water purification plant.
“We have a borehole actually in this market, purified water, but also bulk water even for those that are constructing to generate income for self-sustaining the market.”
Ndiweni said BVTA and their partners have constructed the safe market and green solutions in other areas such as Gwanda, Filabusi, and Lupane and hope to explore other areas in Bulawayo where they can construct similar structures.
