A bicycle scheme is shaving hours off long journeys to get milk fresh to market, boosting women’s incomes and benefiting their whole community. Going by bike has cut the women’s journey to 40 minutes and the milk stays fresh, doubling their income to buy food and school equipment. The bike scheme has helped many women in Zambia go into dairy farming, with the chance to earn around 1,000 Kwacha (£43) more than the average local salary. The bike includes a smartphone, a torch to ride safely at night and a solar lamp that can be used in the evenings. So far the bicycle scheme is reaching 140 dairy farmers. The growing use of mobile technologies like this paved the way for the scheme for local female farmers. The women use their smartphones to pay off the bikes in small installments.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN