COMMUNITY LIVELIHOODS
Greetings!
It sometimes feels like we talk about rain — or the lack of it — a lot. But when rain dictates so much in a rain-fed agricultural economy, it’s hard not to. There are a few hard truths our teams are preparing for right now — especially our community teams. The upcoming El Niño is front of mind, and we’re bracing for another difficult rainfall season.
A poor rainy season is never a good thing, especially here. Cattle lose condition. Grazing deteriorates. Families lose crops and income. Wildlife moves closer to people and livestock. And predators and crop-raiding wildlife become bolder — and, with that, move closer to the firing line.
But here’s the thing: the people living through this are also the ones best placed to solve it — and that’s exactly where this appeal comes in. The solutions aren’t complicated. The knowledge and the will are already here in these communities.
What’s missing is funding — for equipment, training, and market access. We’re hoping that might be a gap you may be willing to help us close.
For Wild Africa,
Protecting Livestock — and Lions
A lost cow isn’t just a lost cow. It can represent a family’s savings, school fees and food on the table. And a lion that takes that cow can pay the price too. Mobile predator-proof kraals keep cattle safe at night. Fewer losses, fewer retaliatory killings. Thanks to Rotary International, we’re rolling out 12 new kraals to replace aging ones.
This is a significant investment. But a kraal alone doesn’t fix a drought. Our Herding for Health programme tackles the bigger picture: animal health, grazing management, conflict reduction. As El Niño tightens its grip, that work even matters more.
Your donation funds:
- Vaccines and vet care against diseases like anthrax, brucellosis and lumpy skin disease — several of which spread to people
- Emergency feed, hay and salt licks to get livestock through the worst grazing shortages
- Governance and financial training for Grazing Area Committees, so communities can run this themselves — not depend on us indefinitely
Above: Done well, simple solutions such as vaccines (top left), vet care, emergency feed (top right) and governance and financial training can mean healthier cattle, better grazing and fewer reasons for people and wildlife to come into conflict. In the video above, herders and farmers from Hwange District participated in a two-day Professional Herders Training aimed at improving how livestock and grazing areas are managed.
From Traditional Weaving to Women-Led Business
Last year, women from Mvuthu Village gained practical skills in food processing, safety and value addition through Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust’s Agribusiness Value Chain Training. This year, that training took an important step forward with the completion of a new Women’s Food Processing Hub in Kachechete Ward.
Equipped to safely process, package and market locally produced goods, the hub gives women entrepreneurs the tools to turn their skills into sustainable businesses, increase household incomes and strengthen the local economy.
Your donation funds:
- Marketing, product development and business training for the women’s weaving cohort — helping them move from production into sustainable enterprise
- Regenerative sisal planting to stabilise erosion-prone soils while supplying a renewable source of weaving material
Helping a Women's Food Hub Reach the Market
A second group of women has built a community baking and food-processing hub. The building is ready, the skills are there — what’s missing is the final step: certification to sell legally and reach formal markets.
Your Donation Funds:
- Food-handler training and required health certification for the women in the hub
- Associated compliance costs needed to legally access formal markets
Why this Matters
None of these things is transformative on its own. But together they matter: a cow that survives the dry season, a lion that isn’t killed in retaliation, grazing that remains productive, a basket that finds a buyer, a woman able to sell what she produces.
These are practical changes in people’s everyday lives. And when living alongside wildlife works better for people, wildlife has a safer future too.
Thank you for your support in helping us create safer landscapes for people and wildlife alike.
Edith January
Community Development & Climate Coordinator
Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust