Stories written by Tonderayi Mukeredzi

International Women’s Day, 2022
Women Lighting the Way in Off-Grid Zimbabwe

By Tonderayi Mukeredzi
Electricity transmission lines run through Chiedza Murindo’s home in Murombedzi, a small town in Zvimba district in Mashonaland West province, but her house has no electricity. That is the harsh reality for much of Zimbabwe’s rural population, where only 13% of households live without power compared to 83% of urban households.

Ecstasy as Zimbabwe’s Smallholder Farmers Secure European Pineapple Market

By Tonderayi Mukeredzi
In her wildest dreams, smallholder farmer Sarudzai Sithole never imagined that her pineapples could someday stock the produce section of Europe’s finest supermarkets.

Digital Agriculture Benefits Zimbabwe’s Farmers but Mobile Money is Costly

By Tonderayi Mukeredzi
Shurugwi communal farmer, Elizabeth Siyapi (57) can no longer be scammed by unscrupulous middlemen to sell her crops cheaply. Nowadays, before she takes her produce to market she scours her mobile phone, which has become an essential digital agriculture data bank, for the best prices on the market.

Low Awareness Restrains Growth of Solar Technologies

By Tonderayi Mukeredzi
Every year, Amos Chandiringa, 43, a farmer in Nemaire village in Makoni district in northeastern Zimbabwe, laboriously waters his tobacco nursery with a watering can. The toil of the job often leaves him without the energy or time to do other household chores.

Safeguarding Africa’s Wetlands a Daunting Task

By Tonderayi Mukeredzi
African wetlands are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the continent, covering more than 131 million hectares, according to the Senegalese-based Wetlands International Africa (WIA).

Zimbabwe Battles with Energy Poverty

By Tonderayi Mukeredzi
Janet Mutoriti (30), a mother of three from St Mary’s suburb in Chitungwiza, 25 kilometres outside Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, frequently risks arrest for straying into the nearby urban forests to fetch wood for cooking.

Zimbabwe’s Rich Fuel Inequality Through Illicit Financial Flows

By Tonderayi Mukeredzi
Zimbabwe has lost 12 billion dollars in illicit financial flows over the last three decades and experts say this illegal practice is perpetuating social inequalities and poverty in this southern African nation.