Will the rains come? What will my children eat, and how will we survive? These are the inescapable questions asked by rural mothers and fathers across africa, as water is the greatest immediate need for village communities today.
Urgently, we reach out to the Africa-conscious, global humanitarian community, in whose line of sight we have been strategically positioned, earnestly presenting our "Africa Heard, Village Water Initiative." This initiative articulates an export-oriented, socially enterprising, agricultural solution to hunger and poverty in one small part of the world.
The Need
Traditionally, rural communities have always used open sources of water, such as rivers and dams, which have gradually become increasingly dry outside of rain season due to climate change. Such sources of water are progressively unsafe as a result of pollution and contamination.
Further, the majority of existing boreholes are aged and under immense strain, resulting in families struggling to harvest crops as the nearest water source is often kilometers away, forcing women and children to spend hours per day fetching water.
The Objective
Our aim is to create abundant, solar powered, clean water sources in village communities throughout Africa, ultimately empowering villagers to thrive.
Additionally, we will provide free, drought resistant agricultural inputs and training to help communities achieve collective self-sustenance through income-generating community gardens and economically viable livelihood projects.
Community Gardens
Beginning in our very own backyard, each Victoria Falls village community garden will have the capacity to feed 69,357 people, consistently, over a period of 1 year. Over time, this number is expected to expand in order to cover other areas throughout Zimbabwe and Africa at large.
Additionally, due to the recurrence of drought, livestock are perishing in numbers. It is therefore imperative that livestock grass be produced in order to minimize such consequential loss as cows are critical to the village lifestyle, used for ploughing, transportation, food, and as a key financial asset.
Self Sufficiency
While well intended, deeply appreciated, and often life-saving, many donors engage African social entities in a form and manner which ultimately renders communities helpless and fundamentally dependent on donations, indefinitely.
Our vision is to normalize communities' economic progress as deriving from social enterprise activity fueled by local and global markets.
While food security remains paramount, village communities can aspire to competitively supply both local and export markets with fresh, A and B grade produce, directing 100% of profits towards community developmental needs, such as schools, hospitals, community centres, churches, quality housing, and more, enabling progress and empowering villagers for generations to come.
Guided by Agricultural and Rural Development Authority's (ARDA's) call to increase local production and cease to import perishable vegetables, our aim is for villagers to supply the hospitality industry, especially in Victoria Falls, initially, whilst developing an export capability.
The key lies in producing A and B grade fruits and vegetables, in order for the hotel sector to reconsider their preference for external procurement due to quality concerns and local unavailability of choice produce.
Further, whilst we navigate the process of successful market penetration, villagers will have the added benefit of selling to both supermarkets as well as local and regional farmers markets.
As a result, we will create employment opportunities for numerous villagers and provide communities with free access to organic food, clean water, smart agricultural inputs, and irrigation systems. Communities will govern 100% of the profits they generate, utilizing them towards their holistic development, empowerment, and upliftment.
While one water source and community garden may seem modest, a resource of this kind has an immeasureable, intergenerational impact on village communities; our initiating goal is to bring this transformative opportunity to 360 villages across Africa.