Urban greening in Gweru, Zimbabwe, in full swing
GWERU, Zimbabwe – Aided by the Gweru City Council, residents from Ward 11, Mkoba 4 and 5 Townships, presided over by Cllr. K. Rutsvara, recently went about the task of planting 100 trees at an area designated as a public park in their neighbourhood.
By 2pm on the day that the exercise took place, all indigenous saplings purchased from a privately owned nursery in Bulawayo, were safely in the ground, watered and requisitely dammed. The Gweru component of the programme, at time of writing, was three-quarter way through and proceeding very well.
On completion of the task, the voluntary workers sat under the shade of a big tree, in order to enjoy a well deserved spot of lunch, washed down with a refreshing glass of ‘Mahewu’, a local non-alcoholic drink, made from fermented maize-meal.
The exercise was part of a programme known in short as the Urban Greening, Cleaning and Nutritional Gardens Campaign, currently being implemented as a pilot project in the cities of Bulawayo and Gweru. It entails restoration of urban environments through clean-ups, planting of trees, including their after-care, and the establishment of nutritional gardens for the benefit of residents in the neighbourhoods. International humanitarian relief organisation, GTZ, in cooperation with the German Government funds the programme, while ZDDT is its implementer.