According to the Food and Nutrition Council of Zimbabwe (FNC), Rural Livelihoods and Nutrition Reports, the Village Business Unit (VBU) concept was designed to empower communities through organized agricultural production, value addition, and market-oriented farming practices. VBUs are community-based production hubs established to promote climate-smart agriculture, sustainable livelihoods, and economic resilience in rural areas.

Through the support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funded USHINGI Project, Mbire District, particularly Makwara Village farmers have embraced the VBU initiative with great commitment and dedication. Through diversified crop production and collective efforts, the farmers are now experiencing improved household nutrition and increased financial benefits from the sale of horticultural produce.

The Makwara VBU farmers are currently managing a variety of crops at different stages of production, including tomatoes that at fruiting to ripening stage and early harvesting stage for marketing, approximately 6,000 onion plants at bulb formation stage, leaf vegetables, cucumbers and paw paws at harvesting and marketing stage with an estimated income of UD$1200 by end of June.

Additionally, farmers continue to put more effort and dedication as the also have sweet potatoes that are at planting, chilli at flowering stage, cabbages at head formation stage and land preparations is currently underway for the planting of 1,500 tomato plants guaranteeing and even higher income by Mid-July, demonstrating the farmers’ commitment to continuous production and sustainability.

The success being witnessed in Makwara Village reflects the positive impact of the Government of Zimbabwe’s agricultural transformation agenda, which seeks to strengthen rural livelihoods, enhance nutrition security, and improve household incomes through community-based agricultural initiatives aligning perfectly to the core mandate of the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund II.