Enhancing Community Resilience and Sustainability (ECRAS) project is part of the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBF), a multi-Donor fund established by the Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Resettlement and UNDP, which is aiming to increase the capacities of communities to sustain development gains and achieve improved well-being outcomes in the face of shocks and stresses.
The ZRBF-ECRAS project is running from July 2016 to June 2022 in 29 wards of Chiredzi (17) and Mwenezi (12) districts of Masvingo Province and aims to achieve this by building and strengthening beneficiaries’ capacities to withstand shocks and disasters and building resilience in the face of climate change induced adversities. ZRBF-ECRAS aims to enhance Chiredzi and Mwenezi household and community resilience by improving their absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacities through achievement of three outcomes:
- Household and community capacities and assets built to deal with economic and climate related shocks and stresses
- Economic and climate related drivers of risk reduced in targeted communities.
- Leaders and service providers improved in creation of an enabling environment for resilient livelihoods.
Mwenezi
Mwenezi district is located in region IV and V which receives low rainfall that ranges from less than 450mm to 600mm per annum resulting in frequent seasonal droughts and severe dry spells. Thus, the district has been devastated by complex and interconnected shocks and stresses, from erratic rainfall to economic volatility, undermining their ability to care for and invest in their families.
Chiredzi
Chiredzi dirstrict is located in region V, while some small part lie in region IV. The arid region also receives uncertain rainfall patterns including low rainfall that ranges from around 400mm per annum resulting in frequent seasonal droughts and severe dry spells as well as rainfall which normally result to flash floods. Other shocks and stresses that have been affecting the region in the last 12 months include: