Written by Charmaine Chitate for CARE/ USAID Takunda - Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA)

As the world continues to grapple with a new way of working owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, community leaders in Buhera and Zaka districts are appreciative of Takunda’s engagement method. As a USAID-funded activity, one of Takunda’s anchoring is the sustainability of any intervention or innovation.

On May 31, 2021, during the Takunda community visioning process, Bowas Museki, councillor for Ward 14 in Zaka district, shared his perspective on the factors he thinks are affecting sustainable development in his community,

“Whenever we receive support from development partners, some projects succeed and others fail. Those that do succeed, we hardly follow through with them. When the partner leaves, we too leave the project.”

As a part of the community visioning process being run in the four districts of Manicaland and Masvingo, villagers from Ward 14 in Zaka detailed different projects they undertook.

Representing an approximate population of 15 000 people, Anthony Gondokondo gives a breakdown of different households,

“The most vulnerable household in my village is one without cattle, ploughs, tractors, that’s the lowest. A middle-range household has a cow or two. The well-off household has enough cattle and a member who works in the capital city, Harare. A small household has 5 members, and a large household has up to twelve members,”  says the headman for Gondokondo village in Zaka District.

The information compiled by the thirty-four village headmen under Museki’s charge contributes largely to the development of the cluster action plan (CAP). Bowas offers an olive branch for future engagement,

“When development partners engage us, they must make it clear that we own the project, the way you have done today. When we then work together, we will constantly remind ourselves that this project is ‘ours’ and we will ensure we put measures for its sustainability when the partner leaves.”

The drive behind Takunda’s community visioning process is anchored on a need to empower communities into developing CAPs that can be presented to any development partner or shared with the government. The CAP reflects a community’s vision and strategies for realizing it.