Sustainable Agriventures for Empowered Women and Youth (SAVE-WY). an Iwmi-Muast Collaborative Agripreneurship Intervention in Zimbabwe.

The Gender, Social and Inclusion (GESI) Work Package 5 team of the International Water Management Institute has a research agenda that is centred around providing women, youth and marginalised men opportunities to get economically active in agriculture and its associated value chains. Work Package 5 has established an intervention program in collaboration with Marondera University of Agricultural Science and Technology, that is aimed at supporting women and youth through a revolving fund that will enable them to access agricultural resources and services. Titled “Sustainable AgriVentures for Empowered Women and Youth (SAVE-WY)”, the intervention program aims to address the financial challenges faced by youth and women agripreneurs by establishing a self-sustaining revolving fund that will provide financial support to 150 beneficiaries in the Mashonaland Central and Masvingo provinces of Zimbabwe.

Through the revolving fund, a loan structure will be put into place which will offer flexible amounts tailored to individual household needs, with competitive interest rates and repayment terms aligned with agricultural cycles. Accompanying the financial support, training programs will focus on financial literacy, agricultural best practices, and business management. Market access initiatives will be included to connect beneficiaries with buyers, helping them generate income. A monitoring system will track the fund’s impact, loan repayment rates, and beneficiaries' progress, allowing for timely adjustments. The fund will be designed to be self-sustaining, with repayments reinvested to support future loans. Risk management strategies will be implemented to address agricultural fluctuations and encourage diversification of crops and income sources.

By centring young, women and other marginalised groups within agricultural value chains in the Zimbabwean Agribusiness sector, this intervention program addresses gender inequalities, contributes to Zimbabwe’s economy through agripreneurship and aims to boost agricultural production outputs, leading to food security and increased economic activities and resulting in a sustainable, regenerative and socially inclusive agribusiness ecosystems.