Chronicle Editor
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
THE Government and its partners have made significant strides in bettering the lives of the urban poor in the country through supporting income-generating projects amid revelations that twenty-seven percent of Bulawayo’s households are food insecure.
According to the 2023 Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) Urban Livelihoods Assessment report Bulawayo has 27 percent of food insecure households but they have been getting assistance from the Government through training in various aspects that enable them to start self-help projects.
The report commends Government for ensuring a national integrated food and nutrition security information system that provides timely and reliable information on the food and nutrition security situation and the effectiveness of programmes that informs decision-making.
Through the system, interventions have come in from DanChurchAid, an organisation that supports those in need in their struggle for a dignified and better life through an urban social assistance. In Mzilikazi suburb, in addition to traditional poultry, sewing, trading, and agribusiness, the project has supported handcraft projects such as beading, jewellery, handbags, and other materials.
DanChurchAid Country Director, Mr Mads Lindegard said communities in Bulawayo were innovative.
“It is exciting to see the level of innovation that is coming out of these communities, and the quality of products that are coming through. It is our hope that having given communities the opportunity by supporting their aspirations, these projects will grow and become businesses that will, in turn, contribute to broader community development,” he said.
Mr Lindegard noted that small businesses that receive mentoring early in the development of the business achieve higher revenues and the owners have higher rates of job satisfaction. DanChurchAid extended cash disbursements to locals in Mzilikazi who are engaged in income-generating projects that are changing their lives for the better.
“My daughters and I started a bead-bag business together with part of the money we received from the DCA urban social assistance project,” said Ms Belta Gara, a beneficiary.
Ms Gara patiently mentored and developed her teenage daughters’ craft skills, teaching them to sew a beautiful assortment of beaded bags by hand.
She said the craft enabled them to secure an income to cover household and family expenses.
They have even exhibited their wares at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) where they sold several of their bags. They hope to sell more in the future, reaching not only international markets but also branching out into other products like ladies’ sandals and more.
The DCA urban social assistance project came as a lifeline for Ms Edsa Masuku who began her beading business focusing on producing traditional bracelets, bangles, earrings, and necklaces.
Ms Masuku quickly taught her father, who was also unemployed to make the trinkets that now provide the duo with an income.
ZimVAC livelihood assessments’ results continue to be an important tool for informing and guiding policies and programmes that respond to the prevailing food and nutrition security situation.
The assessment was carried out in suburbs like Makokoba, Nguboyenja, Thorngrove, Emakhandeni, Mpopoma, Entumbane, Matshobana, Pelandaba, Njube, Old Lobengula, Lobengula Extension, Luveve, Gwabalanda, Cowdray Park and Enqameni, among others.
The Government has overall been commended for creating an enabling environment that facilitates both formal employment while pushing the entrepreneurial aspect as evidenced by informal employment which rose from 31 percent in 2021 to 36,9 percent in 2022. —@NyembeziMu
Bongani Ndlovu