Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube in Msuna, Hwange
A horticultural irrigation project, fish ponds and a citrus tree plantation are set to be established in Msuna under Chief Hwange in Hwange district to cushion villagers from the effects of climate change.
Former Malawi President Dr Joyce Banda yesterday officiated at a ground breaking ceremony for this pilot project being implemented by the Southern African Development Initiators (SADI)
SADI, a regional and non-profit making advocacy network of businesspeople, entrepreneurs and marginalised communities that seeks to capacitate communities, is mobilising resources for the project.
It partnered and invited former Malawi President Dr Banda to preside over the groundbreaking ceremony so that Zimbabwe can learn from humanitarian projects that her Joyce Banda Foundation is doing in Malawi.
Dr Banda said President Mnangagwa and his Malawi counterpart Lazarus Chakwera were initiating programmes aimed at uplifting lives of citizens and were creating conducive environments for investors.
“Those of us in the civil society must therefore take advantage of this opportunity. We must not confront, we must not antagonise government leaders,” she said.
Dr Banda said the are many organisations around the globe with resources to help disadvantaged communities.
“My only appeal is that when they come, they must not ignore organisations like SADI or Joyce Banda Foundation because we know what issues are there.
So if you are an international NGO and you come to Africa and you think you can do it for us, you will fail, and once you have failed, you will say we have been trying to help these Africans but they are failures.
We are not failures, you missed the target. You didn’t know what to do. If you had worked with us, we would have told you where the need is,” said Dr Banda.
She said no community deserves to suffer from lack of social services but African governments cannot do it alone without partners.
Dr Banda said her foundation was working with the government in Malawi
“President Mnangagwa cannot do it alone. That’s why some of us have decided to help our government through our little contribution which will transform the lives of our people.
“In relation to SADI and Southern Africa as a whole, we must all rise. If you are sitting in Harare, you don’t know that there are people living like these ones in Kanjeza. So the people that have done well must go down and help our brothers in Kanjeza transform their lives,” she said.
Dr Banda said there is need to ensure that organisations coming up to invest in communities are owning up to social responsibility.
“So if you have coal mines, they must build schools and clinics. Communities should also be empowered to force businesses in their areas to plough back to the community. I have seen that this area has no clinic and secondary school. An area like this needs clean water and that can be accessed very easily through these companies,” she said.
Dr Banda said efforts should be made to establish scholarships for children from disadvantaged communities but they must be committed to return and work in their areas.
She said she will work with SADI to develop Kanjeza because her calling from God is empowering rural people.
For generations, people in Msuna under Chief Wange depended on fishing for consumption and for sale but because of climate change, fishing stopped some years ago.
The Zambezi River pushbacks they used to fish in have dried up and fish migrated downstream because the section of the main river in the area is shallow for fishing.
Naturally, the community could have adapted and embarked on an alternative economic activity but lack of water and the dry rocky surroundings made agriculture the least option.
Some villagers had over the years moved closer to the river where they settled in flood plains and river banks for farming and fishing resulting in running battles with the Environmental Management Agency, Hwange Rural District Council and tourism players operating in the area.
The more than 80km stretch of road has been damaged by trucks used by mining companies operating in the area.
SADI President Mr Leonard Chidziwa said within a month they will start drilling a borehole in the area for the community
About 15ha of Kanjeza village land has been cleared for the pilot project on one of the plains that used to be a Zambezi River push back where the groundbreaking ceremony was held.
“We are here to give a helping hand in the small way we can and the team will work hard,” he said.
Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Richard Moyo commended SADI for seeing the need and seeking to partner Government and the local community in providing solutions to challenges facing the people.
“As we all know, our village is on the edge of the Zambezi and has been affected by climate change resulting in low water levels which caused fish to migrate to other areas.
This has affected the community as many survived on fishing. This groundbreaking ceremony aims to initiate and open fundraising platforms to facilitate the construction of fish ponds and establish irrigation schemes.
The project has already made a lot of headway and the true results and benefits will be seen in the years to come,” he said.
“We thank SADI and the Government of Zimbabwe for this initiative and their continued dedication to bring development to Msuna.”
Welcoming the project, Chief Wange said a new dawn was beckoning for his people.
“What you have brought has changed our mindset. From your wise words of wisdom you have shown us that we can develop like those in urban areas.
“This occasion will leave a long lasting impression. This groundbreaking shows that there is something big coming. We thank President Mnangagwa for initiating programmes that are aimed at uplifting people’s livelihoods,” said Chief Wange.
-@ncubeleon.
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