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NewsDay

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UK-funded NGO rescues villagers

News
THE Zimbabwe Livelihoods and Food Security Programme (LFSP) is improving the food security and nutrition of smallholder farmers and rural communities in Putugwani village, Gokwe South and aims to help 349 000 Zimbabweans by 2018. Parts of Gokwe over the years have experienced severe droughts compounded by low yields, a situation which has seen a rise in stunting and poverty levels.

THE Zimbabwe Livelihoods and Food Security Programme (LFSP) is improving the food security and nutrition of smallholder farmers and rural communities in Putugwani village, Gokwe South and aims to help 349 000 Zimbabweans by 2018. Parts of Gokwe over the years have experienced severe droughts compounded by low yields, a situation which has seen a rise in stunting and poverty levels.

By Phyllis Mbanje

However, through the LFSP, villagers in Putugwani have embarked on various projects which are slowly transforming their lives.

One such project is the Gawa Savings and Credit Co-operative (SACCO), which has enabled groups to access a revolving fund where members can borrow and fund their respective projects.

Chairperson of the group, Smart Munengiwa said through SACCO, which is like a bank to farmers, they had secured funds for setting up a hardware and sourced a tractor which is hired for ploughing.

“People did not have farming equipment to till the fields, now the tractor has come in handy,” Munengiwa said.

The hardware shop at Gawa business centre is earmarked to transform the lives of villagers through proceeds from the sales.

Another group which has benefitted from SACCO-Gawa is the Wanaka, which is focussed on goat keeping.

“We have been empowered as women and now can contribute meaningfully to the household. Our children are going to school and we have enough food,” Rudo Matangari, secretary for the group, said.

She said as a woman she has needs for delicate hygiene like sanitary wear and it was not easy to always get them from her husband, but now she can afford to buy on her own.

Besides goatkeeping the group is also producing peanut butter, which has a ready market in Gweru.

The LFSP, which works in eight districts, is funded by the United Kingdom government. In an effort to address poverty challenges the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), provided funding for the four-year programme which aims to increase agricultural productivity, increase incomes, improve food and nutrition security, and reduce poverty in rural Zimbabwe.

The programme will contribute to poverty reduction, which is also in line with national priorities. It will also actively address specific constraints that smallholder farmers, particularly women, face in raising the productivity of their farms and participating in markets.