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Victoria Falls Reporter
HUNDREDS of villagers in Matabeleland North have benefited from a restocking project in which each family received two heifers in line with government restocking exercise to improve the national herd.Aleck Nyoni the vice chairperson of Mukani Malimakule, a project started by villagers, said the initial 80 heifers were received from Heifer International in 2004.
“In our ward, three villages have benefitted and these are Takazwipila, Ndimakule and Chishanga. In Ndlovu area they are now on the second generation while in Mbizha the villagers received goats under the same programme,” he said.
Nyoni said villagers in Dete and Mabale areas have also benefitted.
In Chikandakubi’s Ward 5 under Chief Shana, Nyoni said villagers received two beasts after they were given 80 heifers.
Once the heifer gives birth the beneficiary remains with the mother while the calf is passed on to the next beneficiary.
“As villagers, we started the Chidzanani Project and it’s through it that we consulted authorities and applied to Heifer International. They told us to form groups. In our village we have a group of 40 people and we got 80 calves. Other villagers also formed their own groups.
“We’re now on the third generation of the project as next month we will be handing heifers to 38 new beneficiaries. The idea is to empower every villager through passing on the calves. The gist of the programme is that after calving, the beneficiary remains with the parent cow and the calf is given to the next person,” said Nyoni.
He said the programme has improved villagers’ lives.
“We can now send our children to school and can produce enough in the fields,” said an elated Nyoni.
Meanwhile, Nyoni appealed to the business community and authorities to help Chikandakubi ward revive a gardening project which used to supply Victoria Falls with fresh vegetables. Chidzanani project was forced to close due to lack of resources.
It used to flourish before after receiving funding from the late youth minister Border Gezi and the incumbent Small to Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development Minister, Sithembiso Nyoni.
The garden project used to produce vegetables, mealies, paprika, among other crops.
Nyoni appealed for funds to erect a fence and buy an electric motor to replace the diesel engine available for the garden market project.
“We also want to buy PVC pipes because the ones we had were burnt. We have the potential to thrive as a project and supply our local market in line with Zim-Asset,” said Nyoni while briefing a touring constituency development committee led by Member of House of National Assembly Cde Bekithemba Mpofu on Saturday.
Blessing Chizhande