The Centre for Gender and Community Development in Zimbabwe (CGCDZ) during the month of October and November drilled four boreholes in wards 11, 12 and 33 of Masvingo district. The organization targeted women initiated projects engaged in horticulture in Nhikiti, MaSibanda, Gwengavi and SpringSpruit villages. CGCDZ also erected taps outside the fenced community gardens to provide water to the wider community for drinking.
Centre for Gender and Community Development in Zimbabwe (CGCDZ) seeks to improve and sustain the quality of life of the marginalized communities through empowering them with relevant skills and resources with a view to reducing the devastating effects of poverty. CGCDZ’s core focus is sustainable and smart agriculture targeting community partners, (mostly women) from Bikita and Masvingo Districts in an effort to create equal economic opportunities between men and women.
Community partners from the beneficiary villages have been engaged in market gardening of late, however, their efforts were hampered by lack of a perennial water source hence the intervention by CGCDZ. Besides provision of a reliable solar powered borehole, CGCDZ will embark on a series of trainings to enable the women farmers undertake farming as a business. This intervention by CGCDZ will promote agro enterprises through the creation of market linkages and value addition of the produce thus promoting sustainable food systems and WASH goals in line with SDGs viz Food security (SDG 2), Gender equality (SDG 5), Water security (SDG 6), Climate action (SDG 13). The Operations Manager of CGCDZ, Chida Mudadi emphasized on the need for communities to guard jealously their equipment (fence, solar, control box and pump) by creating community committees to guard the equipment against vandalism and theft. The ward Councillor of ward 33 Tawanda Dube promised that they will play their part in safeguarding the equipment as well as maximizing it in the production of food to fight against hunger in their area. Community partners were ecstatic by the CGCDZ gesture and the village head of Vengesa village Ms Junior Charumbira pledged to other developmental partners to compliment government efforts towards attaining the country’s vision of a middle income economy by 2030.
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