Community members from Makoni who are part of Community Peace Clubs (CPCs) established by communities working with Heal Zimbabwe have expressed concern over the continued abuse of the Pfumvudza input scheme. This came out during a dialogue conducted by Heal Zimbabwe in Makoni on 6 November 2021.

Under the Pfumvudza scheme, the government provides farming inputs to farmers as a measure to address the problems of low productivity, low production, and low profitability. Participants noted that the program has been hijacked by politicians and this has created serious conflicts in the area.

”Most community members have been excluded from the Pfumvudza inputs scheme. Agritex officers have also been sidelined from administering this scheme by local politicians who distribute inputs to their supporters”, said one participant.

Participants also noted that most affected are women who in most cases are either excluded from the beneficiaries list.

”Women have been sidelined from the Pfumvudza scheme because communal land is registered in the name of males. This has seen the majority of families failing to get inputs”, added another participant.

Other issues that came out during the dialogue include a surge in cases of Gender-Based Violence (GBV). As part of resolutions, the dialogue meeting resolved that there was a need to engage other stakeholders such as the Chief and Councillors to resolve the issue of partisan distribution of Pfumvudza inputs. The meeting also resolved to conduct a dialogue on this issue that will bring together local duty bearers on one platform to collectively identify ways in which this issue can be resolved.

The meetings by Heal Zimbabwe are part of efforts to empower local communities to help safeguard against human rights abuse and also help build peaceful communities. Heal Zimbabwe utilizes various strategies to address conflicts in local communities. One of these ways is the use of community dialogues, an initiative for communities to discuss and collectively identify ways through which they can proffer solutions to problems in their communities. Such platforms also facilitate local-level conversations on pertinent issues affecting communities as well as create socially cohesive communities.