VBUs are rural development at its best -PS Jiri
The Permanent Secretary for Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Professor Obert Jiri has described the establishment of village business units as rural development at its best.
Speaking after touring the newly completed Kasikili Jabula Village Business Unit which commissioned in Hwange in July, the Permanent Secretary said, “This is rural development at its best. In this dry area, falling under Agro-ecological region 5B and we see the enablement of the community. It’s the upliftment of the community due to the availability of water, establishment of a solar powered irrigation scheme. We say this is a village business unit, they say this is their irrigation scheme. The impact of this one hectare irrigation scheme. The impact of this 1 hectare solar powered irrigation scheme is immense in this rural area.
The villagers here have already started to harvest and their first cycle has yielded more than US$4000 in this village. If that is not impact, then nothing can be more impactful than this. We are seeing great organization of the villagers, upliftment of livelihoods and also provide enough food for their own households. Nutrition here is good and no one here suffers from malnutrition not only that, their lives have been uplifted from the proceeds of this village business unit. The impact of the Presidential Rural Development Programme is seen right here as we journey towards 2030.”
One of the beneficiaries of the VBU, Lillian Sibanda commented, “We are now generating income from the garden produce, which we are using to pay school fees. Additionally, the solarisation of this borehole by SACP has reduced the distance livestock travelled to Zambezi River for water and minimized instances of stock theft by Zambians. We planted okra, spinach, covo, carrots, and garlic, with a dedicated nutrition corner for family consumption. This garden also serves as a source of relish for neighbours.”
Kasikili Jabula VBU extension officer, Martha Chikava (centre) takes PS Jiri (in spectacles) on a tour of the garden while SACP district extension officer, Albert Ncube (extreme left) looks on
A traditional leader in the area said, “The community of this are now have an easier life, because of the support we received from Government. We used to access water from a borehole in this garden but it was a bush pump. After the SACP intervention, the garden was expended and resultantly, food insecurity has decreased. In past seasons, it was quite difficult but now have readily available relish from that nutrition corner.
