Topics & Events

The 4th Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) Meeting for the Project for Zimbabwe Smallholder Empowerment and Promotion (ZIM-SHEP) was held on the 2nd of March 2023 in Harare. The ZIM-SHEP project, which to date has had profound results is being rolled out by JICA in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development (MLAFWRD), from March 2019 to February 2025.

Participants of the JCC meeting

The project has already covered 6 provinces, 18 districts, 19 irrigation schemes and 2531 smallholder farmers have been trained and are implementing the SHEP concept. Under this concept, the technical and managerial capacities of farmers to practice market-oriented agriculture are developed. Farmers' mind-sets are changed from "Grow and Sell" to "Grow to Sell," resulting in significant growth in farmers' income. Notably, the impact of the ZIM-SHEP project is that the farmers are now able to send their children to school, build modern houses, amply feed their families, reinvest in agriculture and provide job opportunities to people in surrounding areas to work in their farms.

Meeting chair, Project Director of ZIM-SHEP /
Crop Production Director AARDS, Mr. Stancilae Tapererwa

Attending the JCC meeting were a Consultant and Mission from JICA HQ, JICA Experts and officials from JICA, Embassy of Japan, and Agricultural Advisory and Rural Development Services (AARDS) and Department of Irrigation (DOI) under the MLAFWRD.

JICA Mission, Ms. Harue Kitajima giving remarks

Prior to the meeting, a mid-term review was carried out by the Consultant, JICA Mission and Monitoring & Evaluation team from the MLAFWRD. The team visited irrigation schemes in the Midlands and Mashonaland East Provinces, where they interviewed the farmers and extension officers to get an insight on how the project is going and if they were benefiting from the project. The team also discussed the project with AARDS officials and JICA Experts. The results of the interviews were used to revise the project's Project Design Matrix (PDM) and Plan of Operation (PO). The team agreed and approved the revised PDM and PO and was signed by JICA Mission, Ms. Harue Kitajima and the MLAFWRD Permanent Secretary, Dr. J. Basera.

JICA Zimbabwe Resident Representative, Mr. Kyosuke Kawazumi giving remarks

At the meeting, JICA Zimbabwe Resident Representative, Mr. Kyosuke Kawazumi extended his gratitude to the AARDS and DOI staff for their tireless commitment and support to ensuring the success of the ZIM-SHEP project. He pledged JICA's continued support towards the project in order to achieve the project's goal and to boost the economy of Zimbabwe. He said that JICA will be extending training to more technical extension workers and officers so as to guarantee replication of the SHEP approach and sustainability beyond project completion by having these officials train other farmers that are not beneficiaries of the current project.

Director of Strategic Planning and Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr. Abraham Mashumba

Speaking on behalf of the MLAFWRD Permanent Secretary, the Director of Strategic Planning and Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr. Abraham highlighted that the ZIM-SHEP project was a vehicle to grow the agriculture sector by transforming smallholder farmers into income earners. Through the SHEP approach, the farmers are equipped with knowhow on what to produce, for who, in what quantity, the quality of the product and which output in which season. He called on JICA and the MLAFWRD to learn from the project evaluation thus far on ways to improve, so that the SHEP approach can go beyond the irrigation schemes where it is currently being implemented and to upscale the model for farming as a business to make it a national model.

Project Manager of ZIM-SHEP, CAEO, AARDS. Mr. Assah Mudhefi presenting on the progress of the project

The meeting was a huge success, allowing for a presentation of the progress of the project, the results of the mid-term review evaluation and the revised PDM and PO. It closed off on a positive note, with all the participants geared up for further fruitful implementation of the ZIM-SHEP project in targeted provinces and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

Acting Deputy Director, Department of Irrigation,
Mrs. Soneni Nyamangara giving closing remarks