Contributing Positively To Food Systems (Smallholder Irrigation Revitalisation Programme)

  Mrs Mutambara moves around her garden plucking different vegetables in her garden which she collects in her small basket. At various intervals, she stops to do a little weeding and to savour the scent of various sweet   smelling herbs in her garden. One is immediately struck by the uniqueness of her garden. It is raised up to waist level, made of stone and had hole in the middle where the family pours water used for various chores in the home. The new innovation, called a key-hole garden   , a key hole shaped garden raised to the waist and made up of locally available materials. The garden, which is often divided into six sections, allows the user to add scrap vegetables, manure and grey water   into a composting basket that sits at the centre of the garden.   Above- Mrs Mutambara in her garden         Mrs Magaret Chikohwa- Mutambara   resident under Headman Ngani in Chimanimani District is one of the farmers who have...

  Leaving no one behind/ nurturing the future – SIRP’s quest to empower rural youths in Zimbabwe We were parked under the huge Mopane tree near the agricultural extension office at Tshovani Irrigation Scheme. A few goats huddled under an acacia tree to seek shade from the harsh February sun. As we waited patiently, we heard the rumble of an engine before a green and white motor cycle and rider emerged from the curve on the road to the recently rehabilitated scheme. The rider   stopped his motorbike a few metres from us, removed his helmet to reveal a young face, perhaps in his   late twenties. As he disembarked from his motorcycle and started walking towards us, he cracked a wide smile. His name was Brian Garwe, a new type of youth in the rural areas. Garwe is a farmer,   one of the 126 farmers at the recently rehabilitated 360 hectare Tshovani Irrigation Scheme in Chiredzi District of Masvingo Province in Zimbabwe. What sets him apart from the other farmers in the...

Beating Iron and Vitamin A Deficiency-  NUA45 bean Zimbabwe’s panacea to micro-nutrition deficiency                               World Pulse Day 10 February  Malnutrition among women and children, particularly micro nutrient deficiency diseases such as stunted growth, anemia, wasting has continued to be a challenge in Zimbabwe. Micro-nutrient deficiency is the lack of minerals such as vitamin A, iron and zinc due to lack of dietary diversity which results in stunted growth, impaired learning in children and maternal deaths. Statistics show that 5 million people in the country are nutrient deficient with 72% of the country’s children and 61% of women being iron deficient. Meanwhile, Vitamin A deficiency affects 19% of its children under the age of five and 23% of its women.   “Iron is critical at all stages of human life, but specifically during pregnancy, childhood, and adoles...

A Tribute to Rural Women- Our Development Champions A tribute to the rural women for your strength, caring, creativity, dedication   and resilience. Despite the hardship, the unequal distribution you soldier on with   a smile. We may never see your face or know your name but   we do see your work. You (Rural women) play a catalytic role towards achievement of transformational economics by engaging in agriculture. You are   custodians of socio-economic, cultural and environmental sustainability. You are the farmers, producers, caregivers, change-makers, investors, community & family managers, , problem solvers, businesswomen, educators. and leaders. You are the custodians of our future and backbone of our nations We may not hear about you in the news. Or   see your pictures in the magazines. Or read your names in the headlines.   But   Daily you contribute to   food and nutrition security, Daily you contribute to eradicating r...

Celebrating Unsung Heroes- Celebrating International Rural Women 15 October  Mai Angela a mother of 5 is one of the Unsung Heroes. Mai Angela's  day starts at 5am every morning, she quickly does her households chores and starts preparing the morning meal with the baby on her back.  She prepares the children for school.  When done she has to go to the fields, collect firewood, carry water, tend for the livestock , go to the  garden and prepare the afternoon and evening meals.   All of this is unpaid and unrecorded work.  In Zimbabwe, 70% of women are estimated to work in agriculture which is characterised by low wages [1]  , and only 20% are landowners [2] . Despite the role they play, a griculture is structured in such a way that women are found at the lower end of the spectrum as cheap/unpaid household labour, working 16 to 18 hours a day, spending at least 49 percent of their time on agricultural activities, and about 25 percent on domest...