British MPs impressed with villagers’ productivity

BRITISH Parliamentarians on Wednesday told Tsholotsho villagers that their government would continue supporting them financially as they were impressed with their agricultural skills. The  MPs toured  Tsholotsho to assess agricultural activities they are funding.

Team leader, Nigel Evans said they were impressed with various activities.

” What we are witnessing today is real hard work and determination by underprivileged people who want to uplift  their standards of living.’ As British government, we realise that our taxpayer’s money is put to good use
here,” said Evans.

The MPs mission was to  assess how the monetary aid that Britain advanced to various non governmental groups was used. They toured gardens, conservation farming projects and livestock projects. At Matindi Sand Abstraction point, 60 householders are into gardening using water drawn from a nearby dam. Catholic Relief Services installed a sand abstraction system , a technology which draws water from sandy river beds. The water is used for watering gardens, livestock and periodical tests are done to ensure that it is safe for human
consumption.

A total of 25 sand abstraction and micro-irrigation systems have benefited 2500 households. A beneficiary,  Modie Ndhlovu, said she was grateful for the  British assistance.

” Before the British came on board, I was struggling to come up with a good harvest. Now I can harvest up to five tonnes per hectare up from just one tonne per hectare”. She said after harvesting she sold excess produce to the Grain Marketing Board and that had helped her to pay school fees for her children.

Britain pumped in US$100 million in aid for 2009-2010. A report on how Zimbabwe was using British money would be produced and  a decision would then be reached on whether to continue funding. However, in a statement released on their arrival on Monday, the MPs said they were not in the country to ” advise on political
developments”.

“Our role is to provide independent parliamentary oversight of how the British government spends its aid. We are not here to advise on political developments,” they said. They said the  UK government was committed to
helping the poorest and most vulnerable people in Zimbabwe.