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Gibson Mhaka
TSHOLOTSHO district, located about 116 kilometres north-west of Bulawayo, is gifted with olive green ebony and deep brown grassland areas, which distinguish it as a haven of environmental beauty.
Its arid conditions are home to hardwoods such as the teak and thorn acacia in extensively covered grassland areas.
Located next to the massive Hwange National Park, Tsholotsho is also home to basically all the animal species found in Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, driving past the densely populated Tsholotsho Business Centre and the administrative section of the district one is surprised how the people and the local authority are sustainably managing the waste, rampant littering and mushrooming of illegal waste dumps that has greatly reduced the aesthetic value of other once beautiful growth points, towns and cities in Zimbabwe.
Many thanks to the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), who through their entrepreneurial thinking educated the now environmentally conscious people of Tsholotsho on how to turn all the junk or litter into something useful.
As part of its continuous engagement with local authorities and communities, in 2013 EMA held a capacity building workshop with Tsholotsho residents encouraging them to form community-based organisations (CBOs), establish environment committees and appoint anti-litter monitors in their areas and regularly clean up their residential frontages, backyards and streets and take solid waste for recycling.
The capacity building workshop subsequently led to the formation of the Hlanzisizwe-Bhekimpilo community-based organisation (CBO) which initially started with 25 members but the membership has since increased to 115.
As part of its survival strategy the community-based organisation is conducting solid waste management activities at the business centre and surrounding areas.
Through the training offered to the members, besides embarking on an intensive programme to tackle the issue of littering, they also managed to start a recycling business.
From the plastic waste, bottles, metal cans, opaque beer containers (shake-shakes) which they are collecting from residential areas, bars and roadsides they are making floor polish, mats, handbags, hats as well as containers for seedlings which they sell for cash or barter for grain.
Speaking to B-Metro on the sidelines of a media tour on solid waste management which was organised by EMA at Tsholotsho Business Centre on Monday, Hlanzisizwe-Bhekimpilo (CBO) chairperson Margret Rashirai said not only didA� their anti-litter campaign keep the area free of rubbish,A� it was also literally paying off.
a�?In 2013 EMA officials while on their intensive programme to tackle the issue of littering, came here and discovered that there was a lot of litter which we could turn into something valuable.
a�?After that they conducted a capacity building workshop in conjunction with district health officials in which they sensitised us on creative ways of surviving from the litter. They encouraged us to form community-based organisations and collect litter from residential areas, bars and roadsides for recycling.
a�?Recycling has now become a way of life for us as we are using the litter to make floor polish and various artefacts like mats, hats and handbags which we sell for cash. The project is not only about protecting the environment but ita��s also about survival as we are now able to sell theA� artifactsA� for cash or barter with grain,a�? she said.
Rashirai said as an organisation they agreed that nothing goes to waste at Tsholotsho Business Centre.
a�?The more litter we collect, the more we are lifting ourselves out of poverty. We have since expanded our project by also venturing into poultry and gardening,a�? she added.
Rashiraia��s sentiments were also echoed by Reason Ncube who said the project was economically viable as he was now able to send his children to school and buy them food.
a�?My life and that of my family changed after I started selling seedlings raised from shakes-shakes. I sell the seedlings to schools, businesspeople, churches and individuals who want orchards at their houses. From the proceeds I am now able to buy food and send my children to school,a�? Ncube said.
Matabeleland North EMA provincial manager Chipo Mpofu Zuze hailed the decision taken by Hlanzisizwe-Bhekimpilo (CBO) in ensuring that their community is tidy and at the same time making a living out of the litter they were collecting.
a�?Our principle as EMA is environmental protection through the community and stakeholdersa�� participation. It is encouraging seeing such an organisation like Hlanzisizwe-Bhekimpilo taking a lead on issues to do with environment and realising that they can also make a living out of it.
a�?Tsholotsho Business Centre used to be severely littered but however, engagement by the agency through capacity building workshops subsequently led to the formation of Hlanzisizwe-Bhekimpilo (CBO) in 2015 which is now keeping the business centre tidy,a�? said Zuze.
She added: a�?They are actually making a living out of it as they are selling for cash or barter with grain the artefacts they produce from the litter. It is also pleasing to note that the members of the organisation have managed to raise two tonnes of small grains through barter trade.
a�?Proceeds from the sale of the grain were also used to purchase 200 chickens for a poultry project. Seedlings raised from the shake-shakes have also been used to establish orchards at various schools in the district.a�?
Speaking at the same function chairman of the Tsholotsho Rural District Council Alois Ndebele challenged other stakeholders to partner EMA and Hlanzisizwe-Bhekimpilo (CBO in ensuring that the business centre was free of litter.
EMA also took the opportunity to donate bins, gloves, shovels and dustcoats to Hlanzisizwe-Bhekimpilo (CBO) at the function which was attended by councillors, chiefs and other Government officials.
Online Reporter