Siakobvu CLIC sits in a drought-prone area where most households depend on smallholder farming but face recurring food insecurity, limited income opportunities, and poor market access, with support from Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund II (ZRBF II) funded USHINGI project, the CLIC has been supporting farmers adopt climate-resilient and market-oriented horticulture, focusing on high-value crops such as pawpaws and tomatoes amongst others. This support has contributed to a significant livelihood improvement, with farmers earning a combined total of $390 from pawpaw and tomato sales in the last month, demonstrating growing household income and resilience.
For years, many farmers at the Siakobvu CLIC have faced limited income opportunities due to low agricultural productivity, and inadequate knowledge on high-value horticultural production, most households relied on subsistence farming and struggled to generate even US$2 in a month for basic needs such as grinding meal as they had little knowledge and skills in producing crops commercially because of the unpredictable weather patterns.
Having received technical support from Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre (FPC) in agroecology training, production guidance, and encouragement to diversify into horticultural crops with higher market value, the farmers at the CLIC have been motivated to increase production and improve quality of their produce for sale despite limited water challenges.
The intervention has already begun yielding positive financial benefits for participating farmers. From previously earning a combined monthly income of only US$2, farmers recorded significant improvements in April, generating US$207 from pawpaw sales, US$120 from tomato sales, and US$63 from other horticultural produce, bringing their total combined income for the month to US$390, demonstrating the growing potential of horticulture as a sustainable livelihood source.
The success has also increased farmers’ confidence in horticultural production as a viable income-generating activity and some farmers have started planning to expand their production areas after realizing the profitability of the crops as well as how the increased availability such produce within the community has contributed to improved household nutrition.
Gladys Charumbwa, one of the Siakobvu CLIC members, shared how tomato production among other horticultural products has positively contributed to her household livelihood during the past month. She harvested tomatoes which she sold for US$38, contributing significantly to the total US$120 generated from CLIC’s tomato sales during the month of April. This marked a major improvement in her livelihood, considering that before the intervention many farmers could barely earn even one or two dollars per month from farming activities.
“This month I harvested enough tomatoes to earn nearly $38 from sales, which helped support my household needs, I was also grateful to donate tomatoes worth about $12 at a local funeral gathering to support a family that had lost their loved one,” she said.
Siakobvu CLIC’s Secretary Mr. Stephen Gunguya reiterated the significant financial benefits that members are gaining from pawpaw production, which has attracted increasing customer traffic to the CLIC over the past few months.
“Pawpaw production has become one of our biggest sources of income at the CLIC, more customers are now coming to buy from us, and this month I managed to sell pawpaws worth $22, which has helped support my family and encouraged us to continue expanding our production.”
The success being realized at the Siakobvu CLIC through the production and sale of pawpaws, tomatoes, and other horticultural products has significantly strengthened farmers’ livelihoods and improved household resilience, beyond the financial benefits, the initiative has also increased farmers’ confidence in horticulture as a reliable source of income and enhanced community solidarity through sharing and supporting vulnerable households.
The project is supported with funding from the European Union and the Government of Ireland, led, managed and coordinated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), technically supported by FAO in natural resource management and agriculture, strengthened by the Resilience Knowledge Hub (MERCYCorps) through evidence generation and a catalytic role. The project is being implemented in the Mid Zambezi by Ushingi Consortium led by DanChurchAid.
