Bulawayo - Zimbabwe - Activities Update

Supplementary Baseline Report | Baseline Survey | Policy Workshop Report 

Activities to Date                               

Activities that have been undertaken in the first pilot city of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe include training needs assessment for urban agriculture, training of trainers for UA, putting in place a UA stakeholder forum for Bulawayo, Regional Policy Workshop, MPAP training for Bulawayo, farmer training, Gum Plantation management training and re-organisation, supplementary baseline survey, and policy review and drafting workshop. It is hoped that activities for Bulawayo which include implementing a pilot project, and action plans. Activities in the second pilot city of Cape Town have commenced.

Partners in Bulawayo Project

Several Partners are involved in the implementation of the UA Programme for Bulawayo. These include:

1.      Municipal Development Partnership for astern and Southern Africa (MDPESA)

2.      Resource Centre on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF)

3.      Bulawayo City Council (BCC)

4.      Zimbabwe Environment Lawyers Association (ZELA)

5.      Institute of Water, Sanitation and Development (IWSD)

6.      Environment Africa (E Africa)

7.      SNV

A training course on developing nutrition gardens was run from the 2nd to the 4th May for farmers in the Gum Plantation. This was conducted in conjunction with colleagues from Action Aid. The main objective of the training was to impart skills in designing and managing nutrition gardens. The course covered the following aspects:

1.Introduction to nutrition including:

·        the relationship between nutrition and HIV/ AIDS,

·        planning healthy meals for different family members,

·        developing meals for people who are sick,

·        the pros and cons of promoting medicinal herbs

 2. Principles of low input agriculture:

• planning for nutritious crops all year round,

• soil and water management,

• natural pest and disease control,

• retaining seed and plant propagation,

• post harvest practices.

 Thirty Farmers from the plantation were trained and said that the training was useful and they will apply what they have learnt in their farming practices.

 Exchange Visit.

An exchange visit was undertaken from the 2nd to the 4th of April by a group from Harare to Bulawayo to learn from the experiences of Bulawayo in implementing UA projects. The group comprised the advocacy officer from Combined Harare Residents Association, a senior planner from Harare City Council, the Acting Town Clerk and a farmer from Musikavanhu group. The group was addressed by various speakers who included the Mayor, who pledged his support for UA, the chairperson of the UA Stakeholder Forum, the leader of the council interdepartmental committee on UA, and other council officials and representatives of UA farmers in Bulawayo. The group toured UA projects in the city and were exposed to the work done under the RUAF CFF UA project. They were particularly impressed by the review of the UA policy of the city and the role of the council in providing land and water to farmers. The formalization of the UA stakeholder forum through some committees of council was also one of the highlights which the visitors thought warranted further investigation for Harare. The official from Harare City Council agreed that it was necessary to plan adequately for UA and the setting aside of land and provision of water were important and would be followed up on return to Harare. The creation of a UA Unit within the City Council was also seen as a new innovation which the Harare delegation were desirous to replicate.

Pilot project.

The pilot project is ready and farmers are now waiting for implementation. MDP is just completing some final editorial work before passing the document to RUAF for final approval.

olicy Narrative and UA Policy Document

These have been finalized and are almost ready for printing.

A two-day course for the policy makers to understand the UA Strategic Agenda was organized on 3-4 September. The objective of the workshop was to take the policy makers through the Strategic Agenda for Bulawayo and how it was designed. At the end of the two-day seminar, policy makers endorsed the UA Strategic Agenda for the city. They also noted that other actors had also come on board and were implementing projects on the Agenda. The workshop also noted the problems of water which were affecting the rate of uptake of UA projects in the city. The city strategic agenda will be ready by 28 September.

 Mapping of UA activities

The second phase of mapping UA activities has been completed. This involved the updating of UA activities in the city, including indicating new UA projects in the city and classifying existing projects by main funding partner. The updating of the maps is on-going.

Activities at the Gum Plantation Pilot project site have began. These include the initial assessment of infrastructure at the site and the purchasing of seed packs for the farmers. The farmers have organized themselves into 17 groups for purposes of easy coordination. The next phase of the pilot will involve purchasing materials for the lining of the drainage.

UA Policy Document 

Bulawayo UA Policy Document | Bulawayo UA Policy Document Review

The UA policy document for the city has been completed. It is being edited with MDP's assistance and should be ready by 28 September. Drafting of the policy provisions on land and water has taken a lot of the efforts in the redrafted UA policy. There were some disagreements on how the provisions should be crafted. There is now consensus and the policy document has addressed these issues.

 UA Tractor and increased UA applications

A tractor for urban tillage has been allocated to one of the councilors in the city under the government scheme for mechanizing the agricultural sector. This tractor is supposed to be used to assist urban farmers with their tillage requirements. Arrangements are being put in place to use the tractor at the Gum Plantation Pilot Project Site.

The city has experienced an up sage in applications for UA activities. The project is assisting the city council to put up a database on the applications so that they can be used in impact monitoring.