By Tatenda Macheka — 18 January 2016
In Chiredzi district, the rehabilitation of an irrigation scheme through WFP's Productive Asset Creation programme has brought much more than water to the drought-affected community...
Eighteen-year-old Alford Chinodya never expected to take on a parental role before his high school graduation. After both his parents’ tragic death, and as the eldest of five, Alford dropped out of school to do everything he could to care for his younger siblings.
“After my parents passed on, I had no option but to drop out of school and be both a mother and father for my siblings,” says Alford.
Suddenly responsible for four mouths to feed, Alford had little time to grieve. His situation was made all the more challenging by his family’s reliance on agriculture for both their livelihood and food needs. Faced with failed harvests from the cumulative effects of past seasons’ drought, the repercussions of erratic rainfall and late planting, Alford struggled to put food on the table. Renewed hope came in the form of a small irrigation scheme, which Alford himself helped to rehabilitate alongside other community members. The scheme has helped to provide access to water for farming and livestock year-round, regardless of poor rains.
“Since I joined this irrigation scheme project, we have been able to plant maize and beans,” says Alford, “Now we can feed ourselves.”
The project is part of WFP’s Productive Asset Creation (PAC) programme in Zimbabwe’s Chiredzi district and is implemented in partnership with Plan International. For families like Alford’s, it has helped to provide a much needed source of temporary food assistance. Importantly, it serves as a productive asset with long-term sustainable benefits for the livelihoods of those in the community.
The programme also helps strengthen households’ resilience to climactic forces by providing monthly rations of food assistance in exchange for participants’ work on projects, such as the rehabilitation of small dams and canals in arid parts of the country and the establishment of nutritional gardens. WFP is able to buffer the impact of food insecurity and boost vulnerable households’ resilience to future shocks through its PAC projects in Chiredzi thanks to a generous contribution from USAID.
Besides regaining a sustainable food source for his family, Alford has been able to gain an income from the increased crop production.
“I sell the surplus food we grow,” explains Alford, “and now afford to pay school fees for myself and my siblings.”
The irrigation scheme provides more than a sustainable source of water for Alford and his community: it has provided them with a new source of hope. While Alford knows it won’t be easy to provide opportunities for his siblings amid hard times, he plans to make the most of the opportunity to return to school and look towards the future again.
“Thanks to WFP, maybe one day I will fulfil my dream to become a pilot,” says Alford.