The Growing Crisis Appeal

Gutu District, Zimbabwe.

Fungai is a smallholder farmer and lives in Gutu, one of the regions worst affected by changing weather patterns.

“All our crops died. We didn’t harvest anything.”

Her harvests are her source of food and income for her whole family. But she is seeing the crops she has relied on for decades disappear and die.

“This drought season has been very difficult for us. We don’t have anything to eat…We were supposed to get enough yield to last us the whole year from what we had planted. Unfortunately, it did not rain.”

For Fungai and many of her neighbours, this is the new reality. The rains they once could depend on are no longer on their side.

“Last year was better because we managed to harvest a bit, but now we don’t have anything. We want water the most…so that we can survive as a family. So that we can farm and harvest the little yields that we can, with my children…

“If we had access to irrigation we could have won. Our crops would have been like those who have irrigation.”

Gutu District, Zimbabwe

Elizabeth is a smallholder and community volunteer. She’s seen climate change destroy her source of food and an income — and she’s fighting back.

“I’m a single parent and have two children. My son wants to be a doctor when he grows up, my daughter is still young…We usually grow small grains which are suitable for this region [but] if there is little rainfall, automatically we have a drought and we are in poverty.”

The savings club Elizabeth now runs means that women in her village can take out loans to buy more food and seeds, invest in livestock or start small businesses. She received the training, resources and advice to get started from local Oxfam partner Aquaculture Zimbabwe.

“We have got savings clubs that enable us to save money. We use this money so that we can buy food, so that we can survive.”

These savings clubs are community-owned safety nets that cushion the blow of disaster.

These savings schemes, combined with emergency food and climate-resistant farming techniques to make a powerful difference. But there is more to be done. As Elizabeth explains,

“If I had the opportunity to be in an irrigation scheme, I would be able to have food. The food would sustain me and my family for the whole year.”

Gutu District, Zimbabwe

Ottilia is a farmer who is already part of a solar irrigation project in the Ruti district of Gutu. This innovative approach harnesses the plentiful power of the sun to pump water from a nearby reservior to crops that would otherwise be destroyed. They are turning sunshine into water.

For Ottilia, this water has already been the difference between a thriving harvest and hunger.

“[Before] I struggled with many things, and I could not afford a packet of sugar…Hunger is now a thing of the past in my house, and I am supporting a lot of people as a result of the irrigation. After selling my produce, I can even afford to buy boxes of groceries and store them in my house. My grandchildren no longer lack like other children.”

The transformation is so dramatic it is difficult to describe. What were once dry, dead fields are now full with lush, green, healthy crops! Ottilia is now leading the way for other households.

“People are complaining about hunger elsewhere…It is my wish to set up another irrigation scheme from our savings...”