St Columba School
Sowing Seeds of sustainable education.
Honde Valley is a hive of agricultural and economic activity and the planting of Bananas has grown in popularity over the last ten years. In 2011, St Columba schools broke ground and planted their very first Banana Plantation. Within five years, the school recorded revenue upwards of 5000 United Dollars per year. These monies were channeled back into the school and used to buy Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). They were also able to give school children fruit packs for lunch and Banana fruit trees to plant at home. During this time, the schools also dabbled in a number of other agribusinesses such as market gardening, poultry, fish farming and pig sales.
These sucesses were unfortunately rather short-lived. The schools water supply dried up as more and more people upstream started harvesting water to use in their own Banana plantations. The COVID 19 pandemic induced lock downs also left the schools’ agribusinesses unattended. Today, the school is struggling to resuscitate these projects but the will to do so is strong.
The two day training event was held on the 17th and 18th of January 2024. Our goal was to bring all students and staff to together to establish a common goal for the schools businesses and food security. We eventually settled on starting with Banana Value Addition. Training kicked off some business basics and we worked our way up to Banana plantation management through to the various options for Banana Value Addition. The school provided the venue and catering services which they charged us for. As a for-profit Social Impact enterprise, we want all of our clients to think with an entrepreneurial mind and to make the most of every economic opportunity in a responsible and sustainable manner.
We are currently in the process of helping the school to break into Banana Value Addition, and create beneficial teaching and learning opportunities for students and staff. Building a sustainable and responsible business which protects children, and prioritises their needs takes time and we want to do it right. We hope to be back with another update soon, but if the next update takes a while, just know that sometimes good things take time.
Yours,
The Nemanwa Team
WHY US
Nemanwa Project Managers is a ground breaking social entrepreneurship development project, that seeks empower young people, and bolster enterprise and economic development in rural communities within Zimbabwe and the Southern African region.
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CONTACT
347, Woodgate Rd, Northwood Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe.
+491773210930
+263772320754
info@nemanwa.org
Mon. - Fri. 8AM - 6PM