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Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
A VISIT to Gandiwa village in Gokwe South reveals that villagers are eager to implement the Pfumvudza/ Intwasa programme.

Chronicle visited the village under Chief Nemangwe where all the 67 households had by yesterday prepared at least three plots in anticipation of rains.

The key preparatory activities for Intwasa are holing out and mulch collection which the villagers have already done in readiness to plant when the first rains fall.

The Zimbabwe Red Cross Society has been on the ground offering training on the Intwasa programme among other Government spearheaded programmes to fight poverty in rural areas.

Red Cross Society which has been undertaking community resilience projects under Covid-19 pandemic through Food Security, Improved Water Provision and Community-based health care support, has to date trained over 150 volunteers in Gokwe South and Gokwe North districts.

Mrs Blantah Munyanyi- a mother of three who is staying with her parents in Ganye village said they have managed to receive training from Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS) on Intwasa, the knowledge which she said she has already put to good use at their homestead.

“If you look, we have already prepared three plots under Intwasa. We didn’t have to use cattle and right now we are busy fattening the cattle so that they fetch a higher value at the market. Remember we used to use the cattle for ploughing and other household chores but after this Intwasa programme, we have realised that we have to work on the land and get higher returns from the fields as well as the cattle which we are no longer abusing in a way by making them pull the plough,” she said.

Mrs Munyanyi said they are also keeping chickens and selling fruits and vegetables, a development that has enabled her to send her three children to school.

Councillor Georgina Chirongoma of Ward 13 in which Ganye falls commended the Second Republic under the leadership of President Mnangagwa for spearheading Intwasa programme.

“Now when it comes to Intwasa, all farmers are equal.  I am saying those with or without cattle can now get high yield from their plots. This concept has changed lives because it is not labour intensive and a plot just needs 2kgs of seed which has seen some villagers finding it cheap to buy and plant,” she said.

Cllr Chirongoma said Government partners which include ZRCS have been assisting villagers through training.
She said villagers were also trained by ZRCS on how to look after domestic animals so that they are able to feed their families and raise money for other needs like paying school fees.

ZRCS volunteer Mr Samusoni Musiwa said villagers have been selling their cattle for a song because they were always underweight because of being used to do other jobs by their owners.

He said draught power is old technology which must be done away with.

“A cow in our area was going for less than US$400 because butchery owners always said that they are not good grade. But with Intwasa, it means we dedicate them to feeding or fattening just like what commercial farmers do. We want to get higher returns from our cattle and we commend the Government and its partners like Red Cross Society who are pushing programmes to assist us survive in the face of Covid-19,” said Mr Musiwa.

Gokwe South District Development Coordinator (DDC), Ms Netsai Mushauri said this year will be different as Government has introduced Intwasa when it comes to cotton.

“This means that the smallholder farmers now have about five plots under the programme from three plots with the advent of cotton Intwasa. They will have a plot for cotton, a plot for cereal, small grains, commercial crops (sunflower or soya beans) and maize,” she said.

“We need the sunflower so that the villagers can make their own cooking oil. Some can go with soya beans.”

Ms Mushauri said there are plans to develop Gokwe North and Gokwe South districts into cotton hubs and therefore the addition of cotton to Intwasa was strategic.

“The province has a development strategy of turning the two districts into cotton hubs of the country. They want to see the gross domestic product of the two districts increase and the emphasis on Intwasa and with the training they are receiving, there is going to be an increase in cotton production,” she said.

ZRCS secretary-general Mr Elias Hwenga said their project is aimed at preparedness and response to Covid-19 related induced emergencies in Gokwe North and Gokwe South.

Mr Hwenga said training and capacitation of community members will be done to equip them on climate smart agriculture initiatives that will be cascaded to the rest of the community.

He said the most vulnerable and food insecure community members are the target group.

“The project will also target all community members for health interventions geared towards infection prevention and control of Covid-19. For livelihood interventions, these will involve unemployed youth and vulnerable women and men.

The focus will be on introducing sustainable interventions that the community can use for income generation, beyond the lifespan of the project. This will involve skills development, crop production and economic activities within the communities,” he said. “To trigger the livelihood interventions, seed and farming inputs shall be distributed to enable the community members to begin production,” he said.