New Nutritional Garden in Bulawayo's Ward One hailed by Australian ambassador to Zimbabwe

The senior diplomat uttered these positive words of encouragement and acknowledgement during a tour of a Nutritional Garden that has been established by ZDDT in conjunction with a Scottish partner in Ward 1 (Cllr E Manning).

“I am particularly impressed by the scope of the (ZDDT) activities, because they are doing it in so many areas and in the process reaching out to so many people. The last time I came I saw the people working in the streets to clean them up and I saw the vegetable garden in the peri-urban areas, this time I have seen some further work on agri-business development and now this pottery (reference to the Mzilikazi visit). Now all of this is about empowering people and giving them livelihoods and giving them opportunities to improve their lives. So I think these are strategic interventions in making a big difference,” said the Ambassador.

The garden will benefit 20 volunteers from the heart of the “City of King”, who are set to raise the bar in nutritional gardening.

The garden, which will act as a catalyst to catapult the community members out of poverty, is a model and will also double as a training centre for all the 29 Wards of Bulawayo.

During the Ambassador’s tour of the garden, ZDDT News Correspondent, Ntando Sibanda (NS), also took the opportunity to catch-up with the Community Action Team leader for the Ward and Garden chairperson, Mrs Rejoice Sibanda (RS), who echoed the positive sentiments of the senior diplomat.

Below is part of the interview that ensued:

NS: Do you think this garden will impact positively in your ward?



Above: Community garden members inspect their new tools.

RS: Yes it will help us in a huge way, especially the disadvantaged people like those without any form of employment. It is quite a privilege to have the garden in our ward and we are looking forward to do our best so that the world can see that if you equip a woman you equip the nation. We want to promise that we will do our best in making this garden a success.

NS: As the chairperson, what is your vision for the garden?

RS: Our vision is not to have the garden as an end on its own but as a means to an end. For instance we can use the garden to gather enough resources financially to start bigger commercial enterprises such as establishing a warehouse and to sell our produce to everybody in Bulawayo and even go to the extent of exporting our produce to any interested countries.

NS: In short, has ZDDT empowered you by establishing this garden?

RS: Yes, we are really empowered and we are really looking forward to prove that we are worth our salt and excel with this garden.

ZDDT establishes and monitors the nutritional gardens as a way of improving the livelihoods of the residents by emphasising the commercial nature of such enterprises.