Conservation farming to build resilience

Many people in Masvingo, Zimbabwe, are losing their livelihoods. Local farmers are being forced to migrate due to droughts, storms, floods and other threats caused by a changing climate. These changes have meant that many places traditionally suitable for farming, now lack the natural resources to provide food security or for farmers to earn a sustainable income.

Forced displacement puts people in vulnerable positions. With fewer opportunities for agriculture-based livelihoods people can be forced into work situations that exploit them. Youth and able men often migrate to South Africa looking for work. They are often taken advantage of in many of these employment situations. This also leaves their families—women, children and elderly people—more vulnerable.

What is the Zimbabwe Conservation Farming project?

The Zimbabwe Conservation Farming project helps vulnerable people gain sustainable livelihoods and food security. Implemented by our local partner Christian Care, in partnership with Act for Peace, the project will provide farming training and livestock to people to start or grow their own small-scale farms and help communities build resilience to climate-induced threats.

What is the impact of this project?

The project has empowered communities by providing training in sustainable farming, helping to improve farm productivity through 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 project will help boost communities’ resilience and ability to adapt to the threats posed by climate change. At a time when displacement is at a global high, creating sustainable incomes through agriculture will also help stop people being forced to move to find employment. The involvement of women, youth, and marginalised groups in decision-making processes further promotes equity, ensuring that the project’s benefits are widely shared. It will help give the most vulnerable food security, sustainable livelihoods and climate resilience.