Project Detail

Bangira Biodiversity Conservation through water harvesting and conservation - Establishment of dam and grazing scheme.

The Chandarwarira Bangira Dam and Grazing Scheme is an initiative by the community in Ward G of Mhondoro aimed at environmental rehabilitation.As with most communal areas ,Mhondoro suffers the problems of soil erosion , deforestration and shortage of water .The sum total of this is the problem of desertification resulting in extensive losses of biodiversity. The propsed dam will ensure increased supplies of water in the dam without which all attempts at biodiversity protection will not succeed . The dam will hold up to 30 400m3 or 66 87057 gallons of water at full capacity.

Most erosion problems in communal areas result from poorly managed grazing areas. It is proposed to introduce rotational grazing around the dam through the establishment of a 677 hectare grazing scheme. While this is will help reduce soil erosion it will also ensure better management of the veld and the regeneratuion of various indigenous species of trees and grasses which are currently non-existent in the area.

The objectives of the project are :
-to ensure a reliable source o fwater for ecologically sustainable agricultural development.
-to increase off-take levels of livestock as a result of properly managed rangelands.
-to reduce the rate of both soil erosion and deforestration in Ward G of Mhondoro.
-to strengthen the capacity of community groups to make decisions for themselves, manage their project and spearhead the development process.
-to protect and rehabilitate the environment through gulley reclamation activities, afforestation and reforestation.
-to improve the livelihood aspect through vegetable production, dairy farming and poultry keeping.

Major activties to be embarked upon in the project include:
1. core trench digging for the dam.
2. fence erection for range land management
3.planting of grasses in the rangeland,
4. tree planting and conservation
5. soil conservation measures.
6. conservation competitions
The project participants and or beneficiaries are the1200 families living in the six villages which form VIDCO`s 7 and 8 namely Bangira, Tazvitya, Murombedzi, Dzwairo,Muza, Samasuwo.

The outputs from the project are ;dam construction, range management which involves creation of paddocks,catchment protection involving establishment of woodlots and gulley reclamation.Gardening projects and fruit tree plantations are some of the outputs.As a result of this project other activities have sprang up such as tobbacco growing and housing projects and the establishement of an eco-tourism centre.

Project Snapshot

Grantee:

Chandarwarira Bangira Dam and Grazing Scheme

Country:

Zimbabwe

Area Of Work:

Biodiversity

Operational Phase:

Pilot Phase

Grant Amount:

US$ 50,000.00

Co-Financing Cash:

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 24,500.00

Project Number:

ZIM/92/G31/03

Start Date:

4/1994

End Date:

3/1995

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Project Characteristics and Results

Inovative Financial Mechanisms

After constructing the dam, the group established a garden and have been involved in horticultural activities. They have managed to raise money for school fees, food and improving their households. They have established a housing scheme after putting together funds from their vegetable and chicken sales.

Notable Community Participation

Community has been actively involved in the whole process from problem identification, project design, project implementation together with monitoring and evaluation. Projet ownership is quite evident and they have internalised this project into their day to day activity.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

Community is now aware of instituting programmes to protect their immediate environment but need more strengthening or training in raising awareness in the area of broadening their scope to the global perspective.

Capacity - Building Component

One of the most commendable things which has come out of this community is the way they have organised themselved and empowered to take the battle of development by the horns. Their project has significantly grown and have initiated other projects which include poultry keeping, piggery project and the dairy farming on their own.

Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples

Satisfactory - the project was not biased but all encompassing. However, the fact that members have to pay subscriptions might have hindered some from not participating.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

The group has been able to integrate the project into their ongoing activities and this has helped to improve the diversity of their livelihoods. Provision of water has enabled the propagation of other porjects which include vegetable production, tree planting (fruit), dairy farming, poultry keeping and piggery project which have improved their nutritional level and have been a source of income.

Policy Impact

The project has no policy impact.

Gender Focus

There has been gender consideration as evidenced by the committee which is well balanced in terms of gender. Both men and women playing a key role in decision-making.

Project Results

The Kushinga co-operative which is located in ward G of Mhondoro comprises six villages and to date the group has scored tremendous results in the following areas:

1) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
One of the major activities was the construction of fuel saving stoves to reduce the rate of firewood consumption. Bangira project is one of the pioneer groups that was involved in the construction of the stoves which have now been replicated to other groups. Through the use of these stoves, the rate of tree cutting has been reduced.

In addition, through the construction of the dam, there has been a change in the whole ecosystem as there has been an improvement in the ground water recharge. To this end, there has been an improvement in the forest ecosystem especially downstream as water is now continually flowing. The group has established woodlots and each member has an average of 500 trees both indigenous and exotic types. Gullies in the area were reclaimed though cyclone Eline affected some of their activities as it resulted in massive destruction of the environment.

Through the establishment of the grazing scheme, the livestock has now been under control and the rangelands are being propoerly managed thereby increasing the off-take levels. The catchment has also been protected through gulley reclamation.

2) IMPROVEMENT OF LIVELIHOODS
The following activities have been covered that help to address the area of livelihoods viz,

i) DAM CONSTRUCTION
Bangira group worked very hard and contributed in terms of labour and materials for constructing the dam. The dam was completed in 1995 and officially opened by the then Member of Parliament. However it breached in 1997, but has since been repaired.The has started gardening activities, fish farming and afforestation activities. Due to their success in managing their dam and catchement another neighbouring group requested for assistance called Tumbwi and another dam was constructed there. To this end, there were replication of activities that had been implemented at Bangira in Tumbwi.

ii) Range Management
Paddocks were established to control grazing. As a result of proper management of livestock, there has been a significant increase in livestock off-take levels. Due to improvement in the pasture land, some of the members now have dairy cows and enough milk for household use and for sale.

iii) Theatre group
As a way of raisisng money, the group haas formed a theatre group called Madzinza Mbira Group which is going to raise money locally and abroad because of their perfomances. This money will be channelled towards establishing their eco-tourism center that they want to establish near the dam. On the whole the vision of the group has really broadened and they are now looking for opportunities for business development since they have passed the stage of just improving their livelihoods for basic survival.

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