Shaping the Zimbabwe Living Lab
May 26, 2025
From May 6 to May 9, the SAFE4ALL team was in Zimbabwe for a series of stakeholder engagement workshops. The aim was to connect with farming communities, government institutions, agricultural extension officers, and other relevant stakeholders who play a vital role in the project. These engagements were designed to introduce the SAFE4ALL initiative, listen to the perspectives of local actors, and collect their ideas, needs, and expectations. Through a combination of field visits and participatory workshops, the team gathered valuable insights that will feed into the development of a tailored roadmap for implementing the project in Zimbabwe, ensuring it reflects the realities on the ground and integrates input from all partners and stakeholders involved.
Meeting with ZFU and MSD
The week began with a coordination meeting between the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU), the Meteorological Services Department of Zimbabwe (MSD), and TU Delft. The group reviewed the current status of the project and outlined the agenda for the upcoming days.
How the Communities Were Selected
Marondera Rural District, where the project is being implemented, is administratively divided into 23 wards, each with an average of 866 households. Given that ZFU was set to procure 15 Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), the team decided to select 15 wards to participate in the project, with one AWS installed in each of these wards.
To maximize community engagement and knowledge sharing, the project also aimed to identify 30 lead farmers from each of the selected wards. The selection of the wards was conducted in close collaboration with key local institutions: the District Agriculture Extension department (Agritex), the Rural District Council, and the Local Government’s District Development Coordinator’s office. The choice of lead farmers was guided by Agritex extension officers, ensuring that those selected were well-positioned to support peer learning and act as local champions of the Climate Information Services.
Visiting Farming Communities
On Wednesday, May 7, the team visited two farming communities that are directly involved in the project. Over the past few months, ZFU and MSD have worked diligently to identify these communities and to install TAHMO weather stations, which collect crucial weather data to support local decision-making.
During the visit, Dr. Prince Kuipa, Operations Director at ZFU, introduced the project and emphasized the importance of co-creating Climate Information Services with the very people who will use them. Community members expressed their enthusiasm for participating, highlighting how increasingly unpredictable weather makes farming more challenging. They look forward to sharing their needs with the tool developers and shaping solutions that help them make informed, climate-smart decisions.
MSD also gave an overview of the TAHMO weather station, explaining how the technology collects and transmits valuable weather data for use in agriculture and beyond.
Stakeholder Input Workshop
The week concluded with a full-day workshop on Thursday, May 8, where the team gathered with Living Lab stakeholders to begin shaping a roadmap for the project in Zimbabwe. Through a collaborative goal-mapping exercise, participants broke down the project’s overarching objectives into tangible milestones. This structured approach will help track progress and ensure that the roadmap remains focused and feasible.
The workshop generated a wealth of input. MSD and ZFU will now work on prioritizing these milestones and aligning them with the project’s scope and timeline.
