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Feeding a Family of Orphans in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe, a country that once fed itself and much of Africa, is on the verge of mass starvation. Aid agencies estimate that 75 per cent of its people will require food aid this year.
But Zimbabwe’s people are amazingly resilient, and a little help can go a long way.
Take Gladys Nyatondo. Gladys lives in a tidy compound, 20 minutes' walk from the nearest track in Chitsanza, at the heart of eastern Zimbabwe’s Bvumba Mountains.
She is a mother of two and the main provider for an extended household that includes several orphaned children and her ageing mother, who says she has never known such hard times in her 74 years.
Gladys is a farmer. On her small plot, she grows an astounding variety of crops — everything from garlic to mangoes. She usually grows enough to feed her family for most of the year.
She also raises goats for milk, and chickens for their eggs and meat, to supplement her family’s diet. By Zimbabwean standards, then, Gladys is doing well.
But that does not mean that she is immune from the effects of Zimbabwe’s socio-economic crisis. Since 2006, Gladys has been taking part in a project supported by CHF and implemented by the Family Aids Caring Trust (FACT), a Zimbabwean organization based in nearby Mutare.
The project helps vulnerable rural households find new livelihoods, enabling them to produce different crops, find new ways of earning money, and ultimately make their households more resilient.
With training and seeds from the project, Gladys now grows onions on part of her plot, because, she explains, onions are hardy and easy to grow and there is a market for them in the nearby town.
The money she earns from the sale of her onions is invested in the farm or goes to household essentials, medical care or school fees for her children. “After every harvest, I make sure I invest in something: school fees, tools, chicks. In this way, I have supported one of my children to finish university.”