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US-Backed Zimbabwe Charity Working to Help Small Farmers

Columbus Mavhunga

   HARARE - A U.S.-backed Zimbabwean charity is helping small farmers in
   the country improve both the quality and quantity of their yields in
   order to increase incomes and become more food secure. "Feed the Future
   Zimbabwe" says small farms comprise 70 percent of Zimbabwe's farmers
   and making them more efficient could mark an important turnaround for
   the impoverished country's economy.
   It's a tale of two ways of life in Rusununguko village in Chirumanzi
   district about 200 kilometers south of Harare: Life for the haves and
   the have-nots in this arid area.
   Those who have utilities like electricity and running water attribute
   it to dairy farming. That's the story for 80-year-old Felistus
   Gwatipedza.
   She started her farm about five years ago -- thanks to Feed the Future
   Zimbabwe. Now she sells milk to a company listed on the Zimbabwe Stock
   Exchange and is able to look after her orphaned grandchildren.
   "In my life," she said, "there's been change since I started dairy
   farming. I never used to get money. Look at how old I am, she said. I
   lost my daughter, a mother of two. I look after them. I have bought
   stuff such as a plow for my home to thrive."
   Feed the Future Zimbabwe is a local non-governmental organization
   funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The group says
   it has empowered more than 13,000 small farmers over the past five
   years.

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