From a dry and desolate area where both humans and livestock shared dirty water from shallow wells for survival, Mwenezi District's Ward 14 under Chief Neshuro and adjacent wards are being transformed into a green belt with thriving community nutrition gardens and small irrigation plots.
Mwenezi is vast and what most Zimbabweans are familiar with is the side synonymous with perennial drought and food insecurity.
Yet now, there is a side of Mwenezi that is green. Villagers are sitting on a gold mine that they are harnessing to change the fortunes of their district as far as food security is concerned.
Their gold mine is the Gudo Mutovhoti piped water scheme, which has made the dream of bringing water and prosperity to this parched land come true.
It now stands as a symbol of hope and resilience.
The scheme is a collaborative effort between the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS) and the International Federation of Red Cross to address the pervasive issues of hunger and water scarcity in Mwenezi through the Zero Hunger Project.
It has the potential to be replicated in other wards funds permitting.
Zimbabwe is facing its worst drought in 40 years amid a huge crop deficit after most of the country's crops were written off during the 2023/4 agriculture season.
Experts say drought is an ongoing and worsening trend in sub-Saharan Africa, with the percentage of land experiencing severe drought increasing from around 5 percent to 15 percent since 1901.
Mwenezi district lies in agro-ecological Region 1V with an average rainfall of 540mm per annum and highly abnormal temperatures hovering above 25 degrees Celsius in summer.
The poor rainfall pattern has been exacerbated by the El-Nino-induced drought that resulted in little or no harvest for the majority of households in Zimbabwe. Because of its location, Mwenezi district is one of the hardest hit districts with a majority of the residents facing severe food insecurity.
A beneficiary of the scheme, mother of three school going children, Mrs Lesina Chikahamare (43) of Gwenhamo Village in Ward 14, could not hide her joy while narrating how the piped water scheme has benefited her and fellow villagers.
"A year ago, we were walking distances of up to 15km to and from in search of water. But now, because of the scheme, our village walks less than 300 metres to fetch water. We would share our water sources with our livestock but that is now a thing of the past.
"We now have drinking troughs where clean water is available for our livestock. This is a cattle breeding area," said Mrs Chikahamare with pride.
She said the biggest benefit for her community from the scheme was the establishment of a 1,5 hectare-nutrition garden in which more than 100 households have small plots each where they grow mixed vegetables, producing these for consumption and for sale.
"For me the greatest benefit for us is this nutrition garden where we grow mixed vegetable which we consume and sell to raise money to either pay for school fees for the children or buy grain to ward off hunger at household level. There is so much change in our lives since January," the farmer said.
Mr Pearson Mapepa (52), a father of seven children from Sixpence Village said before the piped water scheme was set up, several girls from his village had reported cases of sexual harassment, among them rape while on the long track in search of water.
"I can safely say to date, girls and women from not only my village but in surrounding wards here are now safe as the distance they were exposed to danger of rape and harassment has been reduced. Most now walk less than 500 metres to fetch water. We are grateful to the Government and its partners for rescuing us.
"We are happy with the nutrition garden which now ensures good nutrition for our children who faced stunting due to nutritional deficit. Our livestock is now assured of water. We intend to increase the pump capacity and hectarage so that we can accommodate more," said Mr Mapepa.
The nutrition garden not only provides food security for the community but also serves as a source of income generation. The solar powered water scheme ensures clean water supply for domestic use, agricultural activities, and livestock rearing, benefiting approximately 1 700 cattle and other livestock.
With the 8 000 litre-per hour pump, more than 8 000 households and livestock are benefiting.
Additionally, the scheme provides water to Takura Primary School, located approximately 2km from the pump house for the school children and teachers.
Mrs Fortunate Shumba (24) of Chitoro Village said her family is now guaranteed of nutritional relish which she grows in her portion in the garden.
She said those who could not be accommodated in the garden have small irrigation plots at their homesteads where they grow vegetables using water from the piped water scheme.
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Mrs Sibonisai Rai (47) said the community was relieved that the neighbouring Takura Primary school now had piped water.
"Previously, teachers deployed to Takura Primary School would request for transfer just after a term because of water shortages. Staff walked for more than 7km in search of water. Now, the school can retain staff, and hopefully this will lead to improved Grade Seven results," she said.
ZRCS secretary-general Mr Elias Hwenga said: "We are currently implementing the ZERO Hunger Project in three wards in Mwenezi District. This project was initiated in response to severe hunger and critical water challenges faced by the community and aims to provide urgent and substantial assistance to address acute food insecurity in Zimbabwe."
This project focuses on food security and livelihoods, health and nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
Experts say that drought has become one of the uncertainties caused by climate change and it has combined with other climate-related disasters that have worsened the food security position of most communal farmers in drier regions like Mwenezi.
But the rolling out of projects such as Gudo Mutovhoti in this driest part of the country is giving farmers an oasis of hope and support to survive through droughts and other climate- related problems.
