adminSifelani Tsiko
Agric, Environment & Innovations Editor
Shifting to a greener economy is a vital step to untap the economic potential that lies in the new green sectors that cover fields such as solar and biogas energy development. In this report, Sifelani Tsiko (ST), Agric, Environment & Innovations Editor speaks to Hopolang Phororo (HP), director of the International Labour Organisation country office for Zimbabwe and Namibia on the Green enterPRIZE Innovation and Development Project and how it has supported the creation of new curricular for the implementation and adoption green skills in the country’s vocational training colleges.
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ST: What is the major aim of the Green enterPRIZE Innovation and Development Project in Zimbabwe?
HP: The Green enterPRIZE Innovation and Development Project in Zimbabwe is really looking at how we can generate employment opportunities for young people through green enterprises. It has three main components. The first one is looking at the innovation challenge where we have young people pitching green business they are engaged in. Secondly, we are looking at how we can put green courses in the curricular for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Zimbabwe. And, then the third part of it, is also to work with companies to ensure that whatever production they are doing they ensure they are leaving a smaller carbon footprint on the economy. So, it’s really to increase their productivity and have a positive effect on the economy.
ST: Briefly tell us about the role of the ILO in this project.
HP: This project, the Green enterPRIZE Innovation and Development Project is housed in the ILO. So, it is an ILO programme that it has been undertaking with funding from the government of Sweden. Of course, the big role of the ILO falls under the decent work agenda which it is working on in conjunction with the ministry of labour, workers and employers organisations.
ST: Which are the major funding partners in this project? What is the level of funding provided by the government of Sweden for the project?
HP: For this programme, we had so many partners. As I have told you I am talking about the young people we have been working with, we are talking of government ministries, we are talking about the ministry of SMEs, the ministry of the youth, we are talking of the ministry of labour and a whole array of government ministries. We also had the ministry of energy, ministry of trade and the ministry of higher education and so on. Then, we also had employers’ organisations and private sector companies we are working with as well as workers organisations. And, then in terms of the programme itself, we are talking of a budget of around US$2 or so million dollars which has been spent in the past three years. The programme is now coming to an end and we are left with another six months before it ends.
ST: What are some of the major successes or outcomes of the project here in Zimbabwe?
HP: I would say one of the major successes we have had as a programme is that we have supported a lot of young people to start their businesses and some have been able to expand those businesses. We helped them in terms of mentoring, business development services and even how to run the business well. We did this in the first component. The other component, is on green skills development which are now going to be infused into the curricula of technical and vocational education and training institutions in Zimbabwe. We now have five programmes which are going to be infused into the curricular and hopefully, it will mean that young people can be skilled in some of these programmes, that include domestic solar PV installation and maintenance, biogas systems installation, solar sales and marketing, solar agro-processing and climate smart market gardening. The third component involves how companies are doing their work in a more effective and more productive manner to reduce carbon footprint.
ST: From these outcomes, what are your major expectations in terms of implementation and helping Zimbabwe to meet some of its UN Sustainable Development Goals obligations?
HP: Well, I think at the end of the day, we of course, have SDG 8, and with this one, we are trying to say how can we grow the economy. I believe, the more we enhance and help smaller businesses become more productive, more efficient, then we are working towards the attainment of those goals. But, we have to understand the indicators and how they are in terms of the actions. This is one action and there is one big arena where there is a lot that is needed. We have also tried to promote gender mainstreaming to involve young men and young women. This is the contribution to SDG number 5
ST: How will the ILO help Government institutions to implement some of the outcomes of this project?
HP: The whole idea of having so many partners was to ensure sustainability. We have worked on the development of the curricula and so, it’s now up to the Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions to infuse the new green skills into their courses and programmes. So this is how we try and partner with others to ensure that these outcomes and programmes are sustainable.
ST: What were some of the challenges that you encountered in the implementation of the project? How do you hope to overcome them?
HP: Programmes like this are really big and the major issue is how to ensure that they continue with what we had started off with. Once we have worked with the partners, it’s up to the partners themselves to take the process forward. I think this is something that is not a challenge, but will be critical is to make some follow ups to make sure the programmes succeed to the logical end. The other issue too, is that for programmes like this, we tend to have different UN agencies which are working in different parts of the country and the issue, is how can we build each other’s efforts instead of replicating what we are doing. We have to see how we can coordinate more and complement each other’s work to promote the green economy.
ST: Looking ahead, how do you see the green economy transforming Zimbabwe and most other African countries in terms of social and economic development?
HP: The green economy has a lot of potential in terms of job creation and providing energy for the rural economy. Not everyone in both rural and urban areas have access to energy.
One of the major aims of the green economy will be to ensure that there is greater access to energy. We have an abundance of sunshine which we can harness as solar energy in a much cleaner and better way. Creating the necessary conditions for the growth of the green economy will be critical in order to meet various national development goals.
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