A two-year international development project funded by the Isle of Man government has quadrupled household income in the drought-hit south eastern part of Zimbabwe.

The project, aimed at aiding women small-holder farmers through access to solar power, had been due to end in July 2020, but the government granted it a six-month extension until the end of January this year.

Over the course of the project, the Manx government contributed £900,474 - representing 90% of the project’s funding, of which the total was £1,000,527.

The government’s annual budget for international development is £2.5 million.

’The Renewable Energy Empowering Women Farmers’ project was implemented by the International Development Organisation and Practical Action and has increased people’s earnings from $20 per month to $80 per month.

This was done by improving agricultural productivity and job opportunities for women farmers.

In Zimbabwe, the national grid only reaches 40 per cent of the population, with most rural areas unserved and forced to access health centres and schools with no electricity.

To help combat this, the project began in August 2018 and installed stand-alone solar-powered irrigation systems from beneath dry river beds into community gardens.

As a result, 742 women farmers, from the Gwanda and Matobo Districts in the Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe, now irrigate using ’water-efficient and less labour-intensive methods’.

Pilemoni Ncube, a 59-year-old mother of five from the Matabo District, said: ’Water was a huge problem for us.

’Because of water shortages, we were only able to grow vegetables in a small piece of land barely enough to feed the family.

’Now we have water, we can now afford to buy food and produce, and can better feed our families.

’During this Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns, I have managed to feed my family, and even though my husband is not working anymore, the garden has been able to sustain us.’

Chief Minister Howard Quayle said: ’Isle of Man Government has been proud to work in partnership with Practical Action on the project Renewable Energy Empowering women farmers in Zimbabwe.

’It is really inspiring to see the positive impact that this innovative project has had on the lives and livelihoods of communities in the Gwanda and Matobo Districts, and an excellent example of just how much the island’s international development funding can achieve for vulnerable people around the world.’

Alongside that with Practical Action, other major government international development partnerships include: Christian Aid in Burundi, which received £342,894 in funding, and Right to Play - which promotes ’female empowerment through quality education’ in Tanzania, which received £258,672.