Melinda Kusemachibi
Center for Gender and Community Development in Zimbabwe (CGCDZ) has escalated its women empowerment goals for Masvingo through distributing farming inputs as well as training them on fish farming.
Speaking during a workshop held at Mbetu village in Ward 11 Masvingo West on October 29, where they toured Mbetu Kushingirira garden, CGCDZ Projects Manager Chidaushe Mudadi said women ought to be empowered so that they will be able to take care of themselves.
“We advocate for women empowerment that is why we are doing projects that help them to sustain themselves. As CGCDZ we don’t just advocate for women empowerment but we also help them to start some projects,” said Mudadi.
The Garden Chairperson Elmina Mauta said CGCDZ has changed their lives in the village through training and distributing inputs which they are now growing, a development that has helped them to alleviate poverty and sustain their diet.
“These projects helped us as women, we are now able to pay fees for our children from the money we raise from selling vegetables. Center for Gender ‘ndizvo’,”said Mauta.
Ward 11 Councilor Petros Jorodani also praised CGCDZ saying what they were doing in different wards would go a long way in empowering the rural women.
“Our village is a dry land, we do not have rivers or dams but through CGCDZ there is now a very big change. Solar panels were installed, and they drilled water tanks for us to water our gardens. Women and youths are happy as they have something to do that puts money in their pockets,” said Jorodani.
CGCDZ’s objective is to uplift and improve the living conditions of poor and marginalized communities (men, women & youths) with a special focus on women in projects utilizing local resources through economic empowerment, citizen participation and climate change, mitigation and adaptation.
Although CGCDZ is a gender sensitive organization, it focuses mostly on women recognizing that they are the key drivers of economic growth mostly in emerging market countries, Zimbabwe included.
CGCDZ takes community centered and community led initiatives as the basis for all interventions and livelihood activities.
