In the face of intensifying climate change impacts and increasing vulnerability, Christian Care Zimbabwe, a relief and development partner of Global Mission Partners, is spearheading a transformative project in the Bikita and Zaka districts of Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe.
The initiative, “Building Sustainable Livelihoods and Climate Resilience to Mitigate Displacement in Zimbabwe,” is a remarkable example of how local communities can lead efforts to address climate challenges.
The Masvingo Province communities themselves drive this project. Local stakeholders are directly involved in designing and implementing key interventions. The project is improving access to groundwater and enhancing sustainable livelihoods through agriculture. Supported by Global Mission Partners and ACT for Peace, the project helps communities build resilience to climate-induced threats.
The project’s success lies in its holistic approach, linking environmental conservation with livelihood improvements. The various activities mitigate environmental degradation and provide economic opportunities to the communities. The core activities include:
Wetland Protection and Water Conservation: To ensure the availability of water resources, communities have actively protected and rehabilitated wetlands, enhancing natural water discharge. These vital ecosystems in this semi-arid region now provide much-needed water for agricultural and household use.
Construction of Weirs: The project has overseen the construction of small dams built across rivers or streams to capture and store water. This technique ensures that community members can use the harvested water during the dry season to irrigate crops and support livestock, boosting agricultural productivity even in drought-prone periods.
Sustainable Livelihood Projects: The project has empowered communities to diversify their income sources by promoting small-scale irrigation schemes, nutrition gardens, fish farming, apiculture (beekeeping), and fruit orchards. These livelihood initiatives provide immediate financial benefits and foster long-term sustainability, reducing households’ vulnerability to economic shocks.
The principle of community ownership is at the heart of this initiative. The active role of local people in designing and implementing solutions ensures that the interventions are sustainable, resilient, and adaptable to changing circumstances.
The solutions are culturally appropriate and tailored to the people’s needs, enhancing sustainability and resilience. The involvement of women, youth, and marginalised groups in decision-making processes further promotes equity, ensuring that the project’s benefits are widely shared.
This approach ensures that Christian Care’s initiative offers valuable lessons for the global community on the interconnections between human well-being, nature conservation, and sustainability. It addresses multiple challenges simultaneously: climate change, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, and poverty.
As climate change continues to disrupt lives and ecosystems globally, initiatives like this can inspire the world to foster resilience and sustainability from the ground up.
Christian Care’s Conservation Farming Project is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP)