Diversity as the key to independence
Help has been active in Zimbabwe for 30 years. In the beginning, our aid work focused on emergency relief measures in the wake of the severe drought in 1992, followed by numerous projects in the areas of nutrition, education and health.
Today, our projects focus primarily on economic strengthening and overcoming the climate crisis. In particular, we support smallholder farmers in rural areas. We distribute seeds that grow particularly well in dry soils and provide training in water-saving vegetable cultivation. We also train young people in chicken farming and provide them with laying hens. With the eggs they produce, the smallholders can feed their families or offer them for sale.
Honey is also a good product to trade in Zimbabwe. That is why, thanks to Help, more than 700 smallholder farmers manage their own bee colonies. The sale of honey provides people with a secure livelihood and enough income to pay for school fees and medical expenses, for example.
An important aspect of our work is the "imitation effect". Smallholder farmers who have undergone our training in chicken farming and soil cultivation often earn three times as much as others. As so-called "lead farmers", they then share their knowledge with their neighbours and become role models. In this way, we achieve a far-reaching impact.
