The Zimbabwe Council of Churches is partnering with the United Church of Canada to implement an agricultural and livelihoods project in Bikita and Gutu districts of Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s humanitarian context remains fragile and complex, chronically grappling with climate induced shocks including floods and drought, exacerbated by protracted economic instability, and regular disease outbreaks including typhoid, cholera, and measles and other global shocks and stressors. About 26% of rural households — nearly 2.7 million people — were projected to be acutely food insecure from January to March 2024 due to exceptionally high food prices, weak economic growth, and reduced agricultural outputs. As many as 44% of residents in Bikita and 30% in Gutu have been deemed food insecure and both districts have been classified at IPC 3 and 4 consistently.
The project will work with 1,376 households (6,880 participants) to increase consumption of nutritious food, strengthen livelihoods as well as reducing gender disparities, and increase participation of women in decision-making. The planned activities include: training in gender sensitive climate smart agriculture and the use of Lead Farmer and Gender and Accountability Focal Persons (GAFPs) approaches. The project will also support households to establish, revive and/or repair community and environmental assets (e.g., soil and water conservation works, community weir dams, dip tanks, irrigation schemes and gardens); scale up Protection, Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) awareness and response activities, and support existing Internal Savings and Lending Schemes (ISALs) to become Savings and Credit Corporations (SACCOs).