Community-based sustainable rural development: The Case of Shumba Chieftaincy Modernisation Initiative
Project team: This project is a collaboration between the University of Nottingham, National Age Network of Zimbabwe (NANZ), The Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU), and Chief Shumba on the modernization agenda for the Shumba Chieftaincy, into a vibrant community-driven rural development programme.
Duration: Nov 2020 to Dec 2021
Project summary
With a recent change in leadership in the Shumba Chieftainship in Masvingo Province of Zimbabwe, the PI has been approached with an opportunity to establish a platform for evidence-based policy guidance and community engagement to meet the multiple and critical community challenges. These include threats to health and safety (exacerbated by Covid-19), food and nutrition insecurity (amplified by climate change), life and livelihoods decline (due to prolonged political, macro and micro economic poor performance), moral degradation and family disintegration (a result of rural to urban/regional/international migration).
The aim of this first stage of the project is to:
- carry out a demographic study (including needs assessment analysis and skills inventory)
- build a statistical database of the population that falls under the Shumba Chieftainship
The deliverable will be a demographic database that is searchable and updateable to guide efforts to improve decisions, initiate appropriate innovative developmental programmes and build sustainable collaborations and partnerships. This is the first step in the modernisation of the Shumba Chieftaincy under the planned five modernisation phases; namely the modernisation of: the agriculture system (Zunde Ramambo); health and education systems; traditional court system; spirituality and belief systems and spearheading of innovative income generating projects.