Social Investment in Zimbabwe

Innovative organic farming for small independent farmers in Zimbabwe is the focus of KAITE, a Zimbabwean-German agricultural initiative founded in 2007, at a time when most development cooperation has come to a halt in the country. Sustainable agriculture in Zimbabwe will only be re-energised through private initiative and the conscious merging of careful entrepreneurship and social engagement. That is why KAITE believes in working relationships which are based on cooperation and empowerment.

In the Shona language of Zimbabwe, KAITE means ‘a task to be conscientiously fulfilled’. And in old German ‘farm of the smallholder’. Thus KAITE is actively engaged in training its partner farmers in organic agriculture, combined with HIV/AIDs treatment and counselling, schooling and orphan care for the communities involved.

Too often, small-scale rural farmers must contend with issues of insufficient necessary implements, under-utilised managerial skills, poor access to communication and information networks, and poor physical, social and health care infrastructure (both on the farm and in the community). KAITE looks forward to being a part of the solution to these problems, by drawing together the resources, skills, and specialisation that all its partners have to offer.