Story by Mercy Bofu-Matinha
Villagers in Bikita are benefitting from their wetlands conservation efforts through sustainable agriculture projects, with more communities being called upon to embrace sustainable management of natural resources.
The restoration of Mukweture and Chapedo wetlands in Bikita has come as a major relief for the surrounding community as it has enabled them to expand their agricultural initiatives.
The two projects spearheaded by the community through assistance from the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and Christian Care Zimbabwe, are benefitting nearly 1 000 families through gardening, apiculture, livestock and fish farming projects.
“We are excited about this project of wetlands conservation, when we started we never thought the project would benefit us. We managed to put up a weir as our water reservoir and our partners helped with water pump and pipes. Now we have got four community gardens supplied water from the reservoir,” said a community member.
“From this wetland, we also put up bee hives and we are now into apiculture supplying the community and beyond with honey,” said another community member.
EMA emphasised the importance of wetlands conservation in ensuring food security at the same time addressing the impact of climate change.
“As EMA we encourage communities to take advantage of natural resources in their areas and use them sustainably for development. Today we are witnessing the importance of wetlands conservation as the people of Bikita are now able to do a number of agriculture initiatives. Now they have got weirs that conserve water throughout the year and even their livestock is now benefitting. This shows that if we work together we can address the impact of climate change even at community level,” said EMA Masvingo provincial manager, Mr Milton Muusha.
Christian Care Zimbabwe continues to compliment government efforts in empowering rural communities through food security.
“As Christian Care Zimbabwe we are coming in working with the government to ensure sustainable agriculture projects. We consulted the community and they agreed to start projects through wetlands conservation. They have been actively participating and as you can see they are now enjoying the fruits. We are looking forward to continue working with them such that these projects remain sustainable,” said Christian Care Zimbabwe representative, Mr Regis Taruberekera.
Since 2021 Masvingo province through EMA and its partners have managed to rehabilitate over 12 000 hectares of wetlands.
Zimbabwe is set to host the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Wetlands (COP15) in Victoria Falls from July 23 to 31 this year.
