Building Resilient Urban Communities in the face of Climate Change

The Issue

Food and water insecurity due to climate change induced droughts and high inflation rates have led to poverty in vulnerable communities all over Zimbabwe, leaving people unable to afford basic household needs.

The Project

The Urban Resilience project aimed at diversifying livelihoods and enhancing the monthly incomes of selected vulnerable communities to enable them to meet their basic needs while improving their capacity to respond to socioeconomic shocks.

DanChurchAid (DCA) Zimbabwe identified at-risk households to support with income generating activities such as poultry, sewing, cooking classes and more. Through this initiative DCA enhanced the wellbeing of women, children using community structures to address sexual and gender-based violence and child protection as conflict incidences drastically increased with hardships.

Additionally, DCA created community gardens that became safe spaces for networking, promoting business to business trading, and improved social cohesion.

Other community activities included the establishment of savings and lending groups, micro-financing and business clinics. These were set up to give new business owners access to start-up capital, access to markets while formalizing and up scaling small businesses.

The Change

The project supported 107 participants (88 female, 19 males) with vocational skills like training in areas such as welding, bakery, dressmaking, and catering, enabling them to establish new income generating activities like cake making, aluminum window fabrication and event catering. Participants received initial kits to start off, technical training in selected value chains, soft skills training for managing micro-enterprises and institutional capacity allowing participants to fully embrace their entrepreneurial potential.

Leather shoes produced by Bekithemba (64) who focused on poultry when he joined the programme, until he could afford to start his tannery business, a skill passed down from his father.

Through this intervention 57.19% of households diversified their income sources, with 572 individuals benefiting from new or improved employment opportunities.

DCA partnered with local insurance companies providing legal access and insurance to informal traders-previously unheard of. Bookkeeping skills enabled small business owners to track costs and profit, leading to the sustainability of businesses, increasing overall annual income.

The increase in income reduced the urgent need for aid, and enabled vulnerable communities access to improved healthcare, food security, and the ability to pay off short term debts.

The Results

Percentage of households reporting increased monthly income: 96.53%
Number of people having new or better employment: 2,300
Percentage of households employing climate smart and resilient agricultural: 93.53%
Number of farmers trained and assisted : 2;150
Number of farmer cooperatives and support groups established: 128
Number of community-led interventions to improve access to basic services: 4
Number of community members trained on risk mitigation, nutrition, hygiene, protection, and resilience building: 2,500
Number of learning forums (face-to-face and online) conducted with key stakeholders: 18