Zimbabwe Farmers Union is jointly implementing a project in four districts of Zimbabwe in partnership with WE Effect, a Swedish International Non-Governmental Organization. This is part of the ZFU day-to-day work to strengthen various commodity associations, and in this case the cotton commodity association. In order to carry this mandate, ZFU ordinarily seeks partnerships to help finance its predetermined strategic plan and operational program. In this case We Effect is a partner in strengthening the cotton commodity association. A summary of the project is given herein.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union is jointly implementing a project in four districts of Zimbabwe in partnership with WE Effect, a Swedish International Non-Governmental Organization. This is part of the ZFU day-to-day work to strengthen various commodity associations, and in this case the cotton commodity association. In order to carry this mandate, ZFU ordinarily seeks partnerships to help finance its predetermined strategic plan and operational program. In this case We Effect is a partner in strengthening the cotton commodity association. A summary of the project is given herein.
PRESENT : IN FOUR COUNTRIES – Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique
PROJECT DURATION: Technically two years, but practically nine months, with a possibility for a three-year extension. It is running from January to September 2021, with funding available for the two-year phase in those nine months. The months lost were largely due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
2.0 Geographical coverage and operational model
As the first phase of the project, We Effect Zimbabwe Country office and the Zimbabwe Farmers Union agreed to start with a pilot in four provinces and four districts. These were selected largely because they are renowned cotton growing districts and to ensure a relatively regional and national coverage. In the event of the project continuing the project will cover all 8 rural provinces in Zimbabwe. Below are the districts of operation:
DISTRICT PROVINCE
1. Gokwe South MIDLANDS
2. Kadoma MASHONALAND WEST
3. Chipinge MANICALAND
4. Chiredzi MASVINGO
In these four districts ten (10) wards will be selected and beneficiaries will be drawn from those ten wards per district. Ward selection will be done after provincial introductory meetings in the four provinces and district inception and/or introductory meetings for each of the four districts. The district inception meetings will include key stakeholders at district level, including, but not limited to the District Development Coordinator, the local municipality/district council, the Ministry of Agriculture, ginners and inputs suppliers. This is meant to ensure buy-in from these stakeholders.
Intermediate Objective 1: strengthened capacity of partner organisations and ginning companies to implement a certified cotton standard scheme and create descent jobs for women and youth in targeted communities in Zimbabwe. The following are the key activities for the achievement of this objective:
- Stakeholder workshop to agree and adopt an internationally recognized and auditable cotton certification scheme in liaison with ginners, Standards Association of Zimbabwe and the Government of Zimbabwe
- Training farmers to move towards cotton certification standards. This is a major emphasis of the project and the four field officers for the selected districts will primarily focus on technical, transformative and financial farmer training
- Enhancing interface between local ginners and farmers, including further training by ginners.
Intermediate Objective 2: Improved volume of certified seed cotton/lint and cotton value added products supplied by smallholder women and youth cotton farmers in targeted communities in Zimbabwe entering local, regional and international markets. Main activities will include, among others, the following:
- Farmer technical training
- Facilitating availability of inputs
- Sourcing viable markets for farmer
- Value addition of free cotton (that which is not contracted)
- Peer learning at local level through lead farmers
- Exchange visits for peer learning
Intermediate Objective 3: Targeted women and youth smallholder cotton farmers have increased resilience to climate change through adoption of sustainable agricultural land management practices. The main activities will include, among others, the following:
- Adoption and training in sustainable land use practices including General Agricultural Practices (GAP)
- Increasing resilience to climate change and adaptation strategies
Learning visits, including international visits in the four countries of operation