SUMMARY
The major objective of the project was to improve the food insecurity situation, and the general livelihood of the people living in the Svosve area.
Smallholder farmer group formations
30 farmer groups practising field crop production and market-oriented organic horticulture projects were formed.
The groups have also established their own leadership structure with a contact farmer, a treasurer, a marketing, and salesperson.
The structure has enabled coordination of group activities in terms of production and due adherence to permaculture and organic farming principles.
Farmer exchange visits
5 farmers from both Kezi and Natisa traveled to ward 20 of Svosve area in Marondera district for a field day hosted by another farmer in Svosve who was showcasing best practices of organic maize and soya bean production.
10 farmers from both ward 19 and ward 20 traveled to Chimanimani for a networking and capacity development visit at one of Fambidzanai’s sister organization in the name of CELUCT.
16 contact farmers traveled to Tanzania and Zambia for an exchange programme with Kasisi training Centre (Zambia) and ADP Mbozi (Tanzania).
Production and marketing trends
More than 200 farmers in the district have produced various crops ranging from onion, carrots, covo, spinach, peas and lettuce for vegetables crops and as for field crops the farmers have concentrated on maize, soya beans, sugar beans and ground nuts.
Other small fruits such as pawpaw, guava, mango, peaches, and bananas are also grown, while indigenous fruits such as the snot apple and wild berries are present.
With vegetables, many of our farmers have managed to penetrate markets in the town of Marondera where they have managed to sell up 2000 bundles of vegetable, close to 800kgs of onion and other smaller quantities of peas, butternut, and carrots.
Locally farmers usually supply surrounding communities with fresh organic produce.
Herb production has been more successful in terms of marketing as there have been more sales among the different organisations in the areas and some being sold in Harare through Fambidzanai.