The Green Action Fund (GAF) is a collaborative project by Consumers International and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) to promote sustainable consumption. GAF participants are a part of SSNC’s wider Global Green Action Week (GAW), an international CSO campaign promoting sustainable consumption.
This year CCZ participated in the GAF under the theme Sustainable Nutrition for Urban Communities: Tackling Urban Poverty. Four Consumer Action clubs in Peri-urban areas of Ruwa, Eastview and Sally Mugabe heights with a total membership of 80 were identified to carry out vegetable and herbal backyard gardening.
The need for sustainable farming practices becomes critical and this project promoted herbal backyard gardening in order to mitigate challenges brought about by malnutrition. The identified clubs were used as conduits for training and sharing information on sustainable production and consumption.
Consumers in Zimbabwe have a challenge of meeting their dietary requirements due to various reasons, that includes access, cost, and lack of information. The emergence of Covid19 has exacerbated the situation as many livelihoods have been destroyed due to the necessary and mandatory lockdowns.
Whilst most Zimbabweans have small pieces of land in their backyards there is need to capacitate them to take advantage of that land to produce fresh food for consumption and even for sale. Furthermore, they need to be helped to appreciate the importance of knowing the ‘how to’ of producing the food that will provide the necessary dietary requirements for a healthy living.
