ADMORE MBONDA | 6 months ago | top
On Tuesday, the Makande community in Kariba received a variety of community assets from ACTION Aid Zimbabwe via the Zambezi Valley Alliance (ZVA) of the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBF). The Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund is being implemented by the Zambezi Valley Alliance (ZVA) (ZRBF).
The consortium was led by ActionAid, with assistance from the UK Department for International Development, the European Union, the Swedish Embassy, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, and Rural Resettlement, and the United Nations Development Fund.
The ZRBF project aimed to strengthen communities' capacity to protect developmental gains and improve well-being through a series of interconnected actions.The ZRBF project aimed to strengthen communities' capacities to protect developmental gains and improve well-being outcomes in the face of shocks and pressures through a series of interconnected actions. As a result, ZRBF-ZVA was able to increase average monthly incomes by 68% between 2020 and 2021, from US$57 to US$96.
As she officially handed over the assets to them, Mashonaland West provincial minister Mary Mliswa Chikoka stated that they will increase the community's resilience. The assets, according to Mliswa-Chikoka, will assist the Kariba community in becoming more resilient, safeguarding development progress, and promoting well-being in the face of shocks and challenges.
The initiative is being implemented in all 12 wards of Binga and Mbire districts and other districts. It has so far affected 11657 homes out of a total of 6000 households.
According to ActionAid Zimbabwe's country director, Joy Mabenge, the project has assisted communities with resilient climate agriculture, agroecology concepts, and the promotion of small-scale fodder production, and high-value horticulture crops as a way to improve nutritional and food security while also reducing poverty.
"As seen here at the Makande Community and Livestock Innovation Centre, the initiative is promoting technological advancements through drip system installations, water harvesting techniques, and the establishment of greenhouse nurseries," Mabenge explained.Mabenge went on to say that the project enabled the formation of public-private partnerships with input and output markets as well as financial institutions such as FML, OAKFIN, Delta, Agribank, Coopers, K2, and PHI Livestock. Furthermore, the project enabled the establishment of ISALs for rural financing as a safety net for organizations established under ZVA.
Chitete Secondary School received one classroom block, one community nutrition center, two crops, and livestock innovation centers (one in ward 7 and the other in ward 11), and other beneficial infrastructure.