Hope for a Child in Christ through the UFAL complimentary livelihoods trainings have equipped Methodist village (ward 17) with life skills to plant vegetables on tyres this Monday. UFAL trained its Methodist beneficiaries in a bid to empower them with sustainable skills that will boost their food security, during this tough time of water shortages.
Discussions and practical demonstrations were conducted to empower the beneficiaries with knowledge that will enable them to understand and be able to produce their own mobile gardens also known as vertical farms.
In an interview, UFAL Field Officer Jethro Ncube said the Complimentary Livelihood Trainings are meant to equip the beneficiaries with life skills that will assist them in future since they are meant to enable the beneficiaries to feed their families and even generate income if more mobile gardens are created.
“We have brought these trainings to empower our beneficiaries so that they will be able to sustain themselves in future”
“We brought with us different vegetable seedlings that include onions, tomatoes, rape and chaumolier for practical demonstrations and to give out to our beneficiaries so that they create their own gardens,” he said.
Zimbabwe is facing a serious water shortage crisis that continues to hinder communities where water shortage is prevalent to have their own vegetable gardens as crops tend to wither due to lack of water. The ministry of Agriculture has introduced planting vegetables on idle tyres in areas where there is little soil and water shortages so as to improve the food security in the affected areas.
Associated with the above assertion is the reason why UFAL introduced the Complimentary Livelihood Trainings to boost its beneficiaries during this tough time of water shortages.
“We are introducing the organic mobile gardens so as to teach the beneficiaries to utilise minimum space to attain more yields which comes with diversified nutrients,” said Provincial Agritex Officer Ms T Mpofu.
Beneficiaries welcomed and expressed gratitude over these Complimentary Livelihoods Trainings. They alluded that they are now able to imply what they have learnt to change their lives.
“We will use the vegetables we will plant as relish to the mealie-meal we receive from HOCIC,” said one of the beneficiaries identified as gogo maTshuma.
HOCIC is optimistic that planting vegetables on tyres is a Livelihood skill that will bring positivism and change to its beneficiaries livelihoods.
