France, Aug. 30 -- Every day, before delivering custom-sewn clothes to her clients' doorsteps in eastern Zimbabwe, Cecilia Makumbe first takes care of all the household chores.

"I clean the house, do laundry, fetch water and water the garden," the 43-year-old mother of four, who lives in Mafuke village outside Mutare, Zimbabwe's fourth largest city, told RFI.

"By the time I start my sewing job, I am already exhausted."

In her village, there is limited access to resources like water and clean cooking stoves.

Makumbe walks nearly a kilometre to fetch water from a shallow well because the nearest community borehole is double the distance away. Cecilia Makumbe on her way to deliver custom-made clothes to her clients in Mutare. Unequal bur...