Zimpapers Logo

Patrick Chitumba, [email protected]

CHITORA Climate Smart Learning Centre (CCSLC) has provided support to over 100 women in Shurugwi to build resilience and find solutions to climate change-related challenges.

Women in the community have formed the Shurugwi Organic Women’s Savings and Credit Cooperative (Sacco) to venture into making ground cover fencing and poultry production.

The project started in 2018, with the Local Initiative Development (LID) Agency providing financial and educational support.

The women are learning how to run the business, allowing them to fend for their families and send their children to school.

LID recently handed over CCSLC to the beneficiaries to complement the Government’s efforts to uplift livelihoods in rural communities, particularly for women and youth.

The women are defying stereotypes as they are also making fence wire — a trade that is largely male-dominated.

One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Priscilla Shoko, a mother of three, said she was able to look after her children with proceeds from the project.

“I came to this place with no idea of making fence wire. I was taken through the ropes on how to self-sustain and today we are making this fence which is in demand countrywide. The organisation also taught us financial intelligence and we can now run this place as a business,” she said.

Another beneficiary, Ms Tapiwa Chimombe, said: “I can now safely say I am a businesswoman from Chitora thanks to this organisation. My life has greatly improved as I am now also helping in the upkeep of my children.”

Ms Chimombe said she has managed to acquire a lot through the lucrative project, which has transformed her life.

“We now also eat healthy foods with proceeds from this chicken project,” she said.

LID executive director, Dr Pascal Manyakaidze, said there is a need for development partners to complement the Government with pre-development programmes to improve the livelihoods of the people.

He said as private-public partnerships bear fruit in Chitora, women are the key beneficiaries of the initiative meant to develop the entire community.

“The world is grappling with El Nino-induced drought and this therefore requires that as development partners, we also come up with initiatives to mitigate challenges associated with the phenomenon. The Chitora project is one way of empowering women so that they have means to survive and improve their livelihoods,” said Dr Manyakaidze.

He said they had worked together with the Chitora beneficiaries since 2018.

“The social enterprise has proved to be a source of resilience for the beneficiaries. As LID agency, we have a vision of resilient communities that are free from poverty and this is in sync with Sustainable Development Goals and the National Development Strategy 1,” he said.