adminMwanza, Rusike, Gutu and Chinyika with 150 farmers benefiting in each of the wards.
Addressing beneficiaries from the district’s four wards in Mwanza Ward, where an egg marketing centre was being handed over, Help From Germany country director Mr Chris Laufens said this programme is not supposed to be a relief programme but rather a business venture that would see the community operating sustainably after Help From Germany has weaned them.
“We are implementing this as a one and half year agribusiness development programme in the country funded by the German government through the Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Co-operation and the main aim is to enhance these farmers’ access to markets thus it is a business programme rather than a relief programme,” said Mr Laufens.
The project package included training in production skills and farm business management while each farmer also got 32 point of lay chickens, start-up feeds, veterinary kits, roofing sheets, cement and fencing as start-up packages.
“Layers have an optimum production of about a year and as we have given them those that are already laying so that by the time the year lapses, the farmers would be in a position to replace them and continue with their egg marketing business,” added Mr Laufens.
The reason for the establishment of the marketing centre is to make it easier to sell their eggs as a cluster thus making it possible to attract bulk customers such as supermarket chains as opposed to selling individually which is also capital intensive.
Mr Laufen challenged the farmers to take their egg marketing venture seriously if they are to achieve a change in their livelihoods.
Goromonzi District Administrator Mr Elisha Rupiya concurred with Mr Laufens on the need to take the business venture seriously in order to realise the full benefits of improved livelihoods.
“I am confident that this programme will go a long way in addressing the challenges faced by smallholder farmers in terms of income generation and food security.
“Income generation ensures that farmers have access to other valuable livelihood requirements such as health, education and decent shelter,” he said.
Mr Rupiya also warned the beneficiaries to have avoid the dependency syndrome but instead build on the foundation Help From Germany has laid so that the project will live on long after the organisation has left.
Chairman for the Mwanza Association Mr Stonewell Mapfumo also expressed faith in his colleagues and promised to take their project to greater heights.
“We are up to the task of making sure the project does not die as soon as the period that we are getting assistance has lapsed. In fact, we have already employed an administrator while we also have an 11-member management committee trained by Help From Germany to run our marketing centre,” he said.
Online Reporter