𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 + 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜t

The Chimanimani District Monitoring Committee toured the WFD and Nature + funded projects being implemented by TSURO Trust in order to get an appreciation of the progress as part of its monitoring and evaluation exercise.

The WFD project, set to run until 2028, focuses on building resilience in communities with an emphasis on diversity conservation. As part of this initiative, TSURO Trust has revamped its Holistic Land and Livestock Management approach.

The project seeks to reduce the labor-intensive tasks faced by herders by incorporating movable solar-powered paddock fences, providing solarized boreholes, establishing overnight kraals, and implementing spray races for tick control purposes.

These innovations aim to enhance efficiency and sustainability in livestock management while supporting community resilience. Faced with the harsh effects of El Niño, the project is providing stock feed to participants as a measure to combat poverty deaths of livestock.

The delegates were impressed with both hardware and software investment which has been put in place by TSURO Trust ranging from proper kraals, drugs, training of herders, provision of heavy duty tents for herders. In addition, herders received basic para veterinary training to equip them with added herding skills.

TSURO Trust has successfully established five farmer field schools under its agroecology thematic area. This concept represents a bottom-up approach to extension services, where farmers identify problems and solutions related to their agricultural practices, in contrast to the conventional top-down approach.

Delegates had the opportunity to appreciate how this model works by providing a demonstration plot for communities to learn from and later replicate at their homesteads.

The delegation later proceeded to Nhedziwa Market, where the government, with funding from IFAD, has successfully rehabilitated the Cashel irrigation scheme. Earlier, World Vision had supported the community in building the Nhedziwa Farmer market.

TSURO is now working to utilize these two pieces of infrastructure through the WFD-funded project to connect farmers from the Cashel irrigation scheme with the Nhedziwa farmers market, promoting market-led production.

The District Monitoring Committee toured the Nature + funded project in Bumba ward 7, where a thriving mushroom is now fully operational. TSURO Trust is implementing the project courtesy of funding from the Global Affairs Canada (GAC) through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB), seeks to foster nature-positive food systems for enhanced climate change adaptation.

The delegates were impressed by the mushroom project which has transformed the livelihoods of 14 women. Within a space of two months, the beneficiaries are now harvesting mushroom daily.