Current Programs
AMALIMA LOKO PROGRAM (2020 -2027)
Amalima, the Ndebele word for a group of people coming together to achieve a common goal, and Loko meaning “genuine” or “authentic” in Tonga join to form Amalima Loko – a five-year (2020-2025) USAID funded Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance program designed to improve food security in Zimbabwe through increased food access and sustainable watershed management. Implemented by a consortium led by CNFA working with ORAP, IMC, Dabane Trust, The Mannof Group and Mercy Coorps, Amalima Loko builds on the legacy of its predecessor Amalima, a seven year Resilience Food Security Activity also implemented by CNFA that worked to sustainably improve food security and nutrition for vulnerable Zimbabwean households. The $75 million Amalima Loko program seeks to elevate the livelihoods of more than 67,000 vulnerable households across five districts of Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North: Binga, Hwange, Lupane, Nkayi, and Tsholotsho. To accomplish this, the program utilizes a unique Community Visioning approach designed to strengthen community and household-level resilience, promotes nutrition-sensitive initiatives including a blanket food distribution program, and improves watershed infrastructure and practices that provide long-term foundations for improved resilience and agriculture-based livelihoods
Schools Feeding Program (2022 – ongoing)
ORAP with support from Mary’s Meals International (MMI) and working in partnership with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) is implementing a schools feeding program in Umguza and Bubi districts with plans of expanding to more districts. The program is currently reaching 104 schools with 30918 learners receiving a meal every day at their place of education. The programme is targeting primary school children with fortified Corn Soya Blend (CSB) prepared on site. The programme is community driven with parents and school authorities playing a pivotal role in ensuring that food preparation takes place everyday in schools. The testimonial feedback stories that we are getting are amazing and we are proud of the positive impact we are having on school children in terms of improvements in enrolments, attendance and concentration in class. These are important ingredients in improving various educational outcomes in schools
Food Security and Habitat Protection (2021 – 2024)
ORAP in partnership with AGRITEX with support from World Wide Fund (WWF) is implementing a program aimed at promoting agroecology in Binga district under the Bengo GP – Food Security and Habitat Protection initiative in the KAZA Region. The project is working with 700 champion farmers from 5 wards (11, 12, 16, 17 & 21) to demonstrate climate smart agroecological practices that enhance sustainable food production in the drought prone area. The project has facilitated the establishment of 25 Farmer Field Schools (FFS) and 25 demo plots for demonstrating various agroecological practices like minimum tillage, use of organic manure, mulching, intercropping, crop rotation, weed and pest management, composting, early planting and planting of drought tolerant crop varieties. The project is also promoting agro-dealership as a means of making agro-inputs accessible to the farming community. Field days are conducted to facilitate cross learning and adoption of these agroecological practices. Farmers are greatly appreciating the importance and effectiveness of the practices by making comparisons. The FFSs and the field days will enhance the adoption of the agroecological practices and improve yields and ultimately contribute to food security in the district and beyond.
STRENGTHENING CIVIL SOCIETY THROUGH AN ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT APPROACH PROJECT (2019 – 2023)
ORAP is one of the partners on the Zimbabwe module of the project: Strengthening Civil Society through an Organisational Development Approach” funded by BMZ through WWF. The project is a multi-country project involving Kenya, Madagascar, Zambia and Zimbabwe Below is an extract of the Zimbabwe component. The aim of the programme is to promote an active and effective civil society by strengthening the capacity of civil society actors, promoting participation and the representation of their interests and scaling, learning & exchange. Besides strengthening ORAP’s internal capacity in strategic planning and resource mobilisation, the project has strengthened the capacity of CBOs in Advocacy Waste Management and Entrepreneurship skills. It has also facilitated environmental dialogues with CBOs, traditional leadership, and government stakeholders in Tsholotsho to facilitate the review and implementation of local environmental by-laws to enhance the sustainable conservation and utilisation of natural resources.
EDUCATION (2005 – Ongoing)
Over the past 15 years ORAP has worked with the US-Africa Children’s Fellowship (USACF) to improve education across Matabeleland region. School development has been our central focus with libraries being developed and stocked, sports education equipment being donated and early childhood development centres being set up. This has led to a greater reading culture emerging among students and community members who access the libraries. Pass rates have gone up and school sport teams are better equipped and play more competitively, resulting in stronger teams and better individuals.
ORAP believes that education is foundation to sustainable development and the communities we work with believe in this too. Our partnerships and projects want to enhance the investment that parents and communities at large make in sending their children to school. Our partners have contributed to improving school furniture and infrastructure, training teachers and School Development Committees and monitoring the impact of our projects overall.
SPORT (2014 – Ongoing)
Since 2014 ORAP and AutoWorld Bulawayo have changed the face of sports development in Zimbabwe. An annual soccer tournament – The ORAP Zenzele Isuzu Champions Cup – has been organized around the One World Futbol (www.oneworldplayproject.com), a soccer ball designed to be very difficult to destroy. It is made with a specialized foam, related to the material used to make Crocs shoes, that allows the ball to re-inflate after being punctured. By distributing the balls ORAP and Autoworld have given thousands of children a chance to develop their ball skills, balance, agility, and overall physical development. They have also given young people an opportunity to participate in recreation and team development. The ORAP Zenzele Chevrolet Champions Cup is an under 20 tournament that began in 2014 when ORAP and Autoworld Bulawayo, who are the distributors of Isuzu, partnered to bring their dream of youth development through sport to life. The aim of the tournament is to provide youths more avenues and opportunities to excel, and also to bring together youths from different districts to share their experiences and ideas through the ORAP Development Dialogue model. The tournament is an example of the success that strategic partners bring to the world of development. Big soccer teams use this tournament as hunting ground for young untapped talent. Join us or donate towards this annual noble cause.