1. TSEDNewsletter
Issue 1 | October 2016
In this issue...
About TSED
Chairman's Foreword
Partner with us
Editor's note
Stories from the volunteers
around Zimbabwe
Upcoming programs
Chairman's Foreword
With new pressing challenges cropping out around
the world, the world is in need of problem solvers
more than ever. TSED is one organisation that has
joined the race of providing solutions that ensure
sustainable economic growth ofAfrican communities
by leveraging one of the most powerful tools which is
technology. TSED has been accelerating community
growth by ensuring that technology is reaching the
right hands in community. This first issue of the
newsletter envisions what the organisation hopes to
achieveintheAfricancontinent.
BensonTereraiChigwende:benson@tsed.org.zw
Connect with Us
www.tsed.org.zw
+263 9 60675
Technology for Sustainable
Technology for Sustainable
Technology for Sustainable
Economic Development
Economic Development
Economic Development
@technoforafrica

2. 2 TSED NEWSLETTER ISSUE 1 | 2016
Who is TSED?
Technology for Sustainable Economic
Development (TSED), is a charity trust founded on
the premises of wanting to leverage technology for
sustainable economic development in Africa.
VISION
Changing communities, improving lives for a
better self-sustaining Africa.
MISSION
To be a leader in technology acceleration and
the provision of innovative solutions to eradicate
poverty and build self-sustaining communities.
STRATEGIC FOCUS
Feed the Nation
The feed the nation programme exists to help
Technology for Sustainable Economic Development
(TSED) in the fulfilment of its objective in eradicating
poverty and extreme hunger by ensuring food security,
enhancing production and productivity and achieving
higher local value addition.
At Technology for Sustainable Economic
Development (TSED) we believe that change begins at
earliest stage of life in a society which is the family unit
in the community. So our feed the nation programme
is focused on transforming smaller farming families
with growth potential and have a measurable positive
socio-economic effect on community, employment
(particularly for youth and women) and sustained
household incomes.
Education for All
A prosperous and self-sustaining Africa is
predicated on the development of Africa’s human
resources. Well-functioning and sustainable national
education and training systems are key tools in
achieving this. Education is an important sector whose
performance directly affects the quality and magnitude
of Africa’s development.
Technology for Sustainable Economic
Development in support of Education for all hope to
promote the acquisition of life-skills by adolescents
and youth and expand adult literacy in areas pertaining
technology.
Connect the Globe (Internet for All)
As part of Internet Global Challenge initiative
that catalyses new models of public-private
collaboration, with the aim of increasing affordable
internet access and relevant adoption, and developing a
replicable methodology that can be scaled within and
among other countries for the estimated 4 billion people
who are not on the internet.
TSED initiative will be action oriented with an
objective to accelerate the achievement of internet for
all, in partnership with the governments involved and
under their leadership, and will involve private sector,
civil society, experts, and the multilateral/bilateral
community. The models developed will aim to serve as
a basis for scaling up and replicating “internet for all” in
African countries and regions.
Clean and Sustainable Energy for
All
Energy access acts as a catalyst for
development, enabling education and local business
opportunities, improving health and welfare, and
enhancing democratic engagement.
Africa is poised for breakneck economic growth
in the coming decades because of its rich natural
resources, favourable demographics and overall scope
for development compared to other parts of the world.
But much of that growth will hinge on the availability
of the power and electricity needed to ignite industries
and enable everyday business activity throughout the
continent.
Technology for Sustainable Economic
Development’s main objective under the banner of
Clean Sustainable Energy for all it helps Africa supply
the most basic needs of energy to smaller communities
with potential of a meaningful social economic
development.

3. Upcoming Programs Editor’s Note
3TSED NEWSLETTER ISSUE 1 | 2016
TSED EmergingLeadersTraining Camp.(TSED E.L.T.C)
This program under the auspices for Education for ALL (E.F.A)
was designed to train youths in the acquisition of life skills
pertaining to technology and engagement in production centred
activities .The training camp is held annually in the month of
November, during the Training camp special guests are invited
toholdthetrainingseminar.
Areas oftraining:
Ÿ RenewableEnergyTechnologies.
Ÿ SocialEntrepreneurship.
Ÿ Smart Farming Technologies.
Ÿ Reuseand RecycleTechniques.etc.
NB: This program is made a success by the generosity of our
partners and donors who are dedicated to the sustainable socio
andeconomicdevelopmentofAfrica.
To donate and partner with us contact us on infor@tsed.org.zw
or or +263775931262,+263772298204.benson@tsed.org.zw
TSED ReachOut Campaigns.
Reach out campaigns are organised in different parts around
the continent of Africa under the directive of the Board of
Trustees .But currently scheduled campaigns will be focused
in Zimbabwe. Their sole purpose is advocacy and engagement
of stake holders, donors and volunteers. They help community
know who we are, what we do as the TSED thus bringing
awarenessinour valuedpartners.
To be part of the reach out campaigns please contact
infor@tsed.org.zw.
Above all else, I am excited to be
part of the vigilant team that made
the production of this newsletter
possible! This is officially the first
newsletter to be published by
Technology for Sustainable
Economic Development (TSED).
Our purpose goes beyond tackling
issues going on in Zimbabwe, we
are proudly aiming for extending
our reach throughout the continent
of Africa. The amazing thing is
our acknowledgement that we
cannot do any of this without the
help of people like ‘you’. Yes,
you! By reading this article alone,
you have become a valued
contributor of TSED. Of course
you can go the extra mile by
spreading the word about our
work, volunteering your services,
taking part in our workshops or
donating whatever it is that you
can and feel will be of great use to
the next person. It is to my
greatest hope that you enjoy
reading this newsletter and give
us feedback through our social
networks and contact details
provided on the first page.
Welcome to the TSED family!

4. 4 TSED NEWSLETTER ISSUE 1 | 2016
Emergency call in Tavengwa village
By Faith Mhandu- Mutsambiri
In the sun scotching land of
Mwenezi area in Masvingo
province lies Tavengwa village. An
area where even the grass itself
struggles to see the rise of a new dawn.
Seeing green natural vegetation
is a rare encounter in this semi-arid
region. The situation of the natural
environment itself signals to a visitor
the struggle that locals go through to
harvest something worthy a meal.
Pastures are dry and tillage fields are
thirsty, putting both humans and
livestock on the receiving end of
hunger and poverty.
Tavengwa village falls under
the chieftainship of Chief Murovi.
Mwenezi lies in natural regions four
(4) and five (5) which by geography
receives little to no rainfall. By virtue
of location, it is prone to drought and
inadequate for agricultural activities.
With the area also experiencing
climate changes, for the past years
Tavengwa village has been in perennial
food shortages. This has forced
Mwenezi farmers to shift from
traditionally regular crops into cotton,
small grains, and livestock production.
However, of late, livestock production
has been affected by pastures scarcity
due to droughts. This has brought a
notable challenge to the villagers since
they rely on butter trading their animals
to gain mealie meal, the people’s
staple food.
On the other hand, small grains
production is usually stereotyped as for
women while farmers have since
dumped cotton due to its poor prices.
Unlike other villages in
Mwenezi that are close to Mwenezi
River, Tavengwa village does not
benefit from this natural resource.
There is just a small irrigation scheme
in the area, which can only support
vegetables and probably small scale
green mealies production. It is not
big enough to feed the community
for the whole year.
With the explanation above,
people in Tavengwa village do not
have any other sources of income.
! e market for small grains is still
small in Zimbabwe as most people
prefer maize meal rather than millet,
rapoko and sorghum. ! e people of
Tavengwa themselves consume it
because it is the only production that
their dry land can sustain. ! therefore,
the need to educate them on the
benefits of these small grains to the
healthy development of an African
citizen.
Expanding the area under
irrigation is one way of helping
people in Tavengwa village, but
education and value addition can also
play a vital role. Educating villagers
as well as the whole nation on the
nutritional value of small grains will
go a long way in the appreciation of
the negatively stereotyped crops.
Education is also required
in achieving the highest yield per
hectare in both small grains and
cotton. Teaching farmers to harvest
pastures during the peak of the rain
season is also vital. Value addition
on the other hand, will improve the
consumption of small grains while
to cotton farmers this would be a
stepping stone in poverty alleviation.
Obert Jiri, an agronomist
and University of Zimbabwe lecture
concurred that if farmers mobilise
themselves and gin their crop before
exporting, they would realise more
profits.
“What our cotton farmers
need especially those who do not
grow under the contract system is to
be able to gin their own cotton and
export it as lint which fetches a better
price,” said Jiri.
“! is can be achieved by
having an independent ginning
company, and due to the spread of
mobile phones that use internet,
our farmers can access international
market prices and form groups to
export their crop,” he added.
Value addition of small grains
would also create a wide variety of
food choices amongst the villagers
and remove boredom and appetite
loss caused by eating the same food
all the time. As a result, this would
create household food security with
an added advantage of a nutritional
diet.
Tavengwa villagers also need
assistants in finding markets for their
produce once irrigation technologies
are set. ! is will help them to trade
their crops and manage to acquire
more commodities other than
their land produce. Moreover, they
would need money to inject back
into their agricultural activities.
In as much as food aids might
bring a bright smile to the villagers,
this is not the best way to help the
struggling communities. Food aids
feed them today but tomorrow they
are hungry again. Besides, it creates
a reliance syndrome while killing
self-sustenance.
What these locals need is
technological innovations and
education for self-sustenance. With
technology, they can have their local
industry of water pumping; irrigation
can be a bloomy activity in this area
bringing food to everyone’s table.
Hungry faces can slowly fade away
if water pumping technology is to be
installed.

5. Water crisis hits Chikomba communal lands
5TSED NEWSLETTER ISSUE 1 | 2016
ByTendaiMunhazu
It is around mid-day and the sun is
blistering tremendously hot.
Temperatures are ranging around 35
degreesinadry summer.
From down the valley slowly
approaches a woman around her mid-30s.
She is carrying a 25litre container on her
head. Both her hand are hanging with a
bucket of water each.As she draws nearer,
it becomes visible that a small baby is
strapped on her back crying with
inexplicable discomfort. The woman is
breathing atypically and profusely
sweating. She looks exhausted but still
going.
From a distance follows a young
boy, in the primary school going age. He is
supposed to be in school but probably this
day he had to help her mother in the
garden. At the moment he is struggling
with two, five liter containers filled with
water. His lips are dry, the hair is kinky
and his skin is all white with the dust.
Despite the sun heated soil, the boy is
walking bare footed on this intense hot
earth. His name is Takunda and her
motherisMary.
They need to water their garden
and go back to the river, a mile away.
Without such determination, they won’t
find a meal on their tables enough for
themtoseethenextday.
Such are the characteristics of the
dailystruggles for survivalenvelopingthe
people of Manyene communal lands,
Chikomba District in Chivhu. Boreholes a
few and rivers are far. Everything seems
slow in this remote area, from
communication to transportation.There is
no tared road to link them to their beloved
Chivhu town. Now being isolated like
that, they are struggling to produce for
theirself-sustenance.
The woman in the opening
paragraphs, Marry Machona described
her ordeal as horrible daylight
nightmares: “Ndiwo mararamire atinoita
kuno, vazhinji havazvizivi. Marwadzo
ega ega sehope dzemadzikirira (That’s
how we survive here. It is like a heavy
nightmare)”.
“Hatina zvibhorani saka
tinotofamba rwendo kunochera mvura
kurukova. Ndomawanire atinotoitawo
muriwo wemuGarden (There are no
boreholes so we travel long trips to fetch
water from the river. That’s how we
managetogetvegetables),”shewailed.
Most residents have wells on
their homes but they have dried up due to
the lowering of the water table this hot
summer. Now they have no option but to
share the water with their few animals.
Besides, these are just streams not big
enough to self-filter the water. As a
result, it is usually muddy after the
animals take their turn at the natural
resource.
Tawanda Machona, the husband
to Mary narrated how the situation used
tobebetterbuthas sincedeteriorated.
“Things used to be better in these
communal lands sometimes back. I
remember as a young boy my father used
to have a bumper harvest. From than he
managed to take me to school. GMB
(Grain Marketing Board) used to come
and buy maize from the local farmers.
All this is a thing of the past. Ivhu redu
r a n e t a u y e m v u r a h a i c h a n a y i
sezvayaisiita (The soil is tired and the
rains have deteriorated). Things are
getting harder and harder for us,” Said
Machona.
“It would be better if we
manage to get water pumps and
fertilizers for our fields. Agriculture is
our only means of survival since I am no
longer working,” he added. Machona
used to be a primary school teacher but
left his job in 2008 going to work in
South Africa. When his contract ended,
Machona came back home but couldn’t
get his teaching job back. Now he has to
make a living from tilling the dry soil in
a communal land whose soil is no longer
fertile.
Besidesfeedinghiswifeand
theirtwochildren,Machonaneeds
to take care of his 72 year old mother and
his 79 year old father both staying in the
same household. They try their best to
help in the fields despite their
deterioratinghealth.
Every now and then, Machona
and his wife need to take their parents for
health reveal but at times they fail due to
limitedfunds.
Adding on to the dependency
load, there are also other four children;
orphans left by Machona’s siblings who
died of the raging HIV pandemic. Two
of these are in secondary school and two
are still in their primary level. All they
school fees comes from Machona and
his wife. He dresses them, provide food,
and make sure they have a roof over their
head.
Now with the lack of farming
equipment, it is becoming more difficult
for him. With help from the donor
community, these people can be helped
to ‘jump-start’ self- sustaining projects
like irrigation and animal husbandry.
They have the manpower but without the
necessary resources, they cannot
produceanything.

6. 6 TSED NEWSLETTER ISSUE 1 | 2016
Partnerwith us
Without the support and generosity of our partners, stakeholders ,donors the vision would not be possible so TSED is
mobilising individuals and corporate donors that subscribe with our work to help us make our communities better by
sendingin donationintheform of
· Damaged equipmentor
· Workingequipment
· Officefurniture
· Tools
· Industrialmachinery
· Renewableenergyequipment
· Computers andlaptop.
Toour refurbishedcentreweretheyarerecycledforreusetocommunitiesofneed.
(Please fillandcut theform)
DONATION FORM(Pleasecompleteallthesections)
Detailsof donor
Title…… Forename(s)…………………………............Surname………………………………
ID number/Passport number……………………………………………………………...........…
Address …………………………………………………………………………………..............
……………………………………………………………………………….............…
Postcode……………………………
Emailaddress ………………………………………………………………………….................
Description of Donation
…………………………………………………………………………....………………........…
……………………………………………………………………………………........…………
DonatedTowards …………………………………………………………………...........……….
Signature…………………………………………………..................Date……/……/………….
For partnerships, donations and inquiries:
Benson Tererai Chigwende +263775931262 benson@tsed.org.zw
simba@tsed.org,zwSimbarashe Sharara +263772298204
For further information and support:
Secretary and Public Relations Officer
Annah Gangararwe +263771051077 infor@tsed.org.zw Where to Find Us:
Bulawayo Centre Complex
Shop 39
th
Along Fort Street Btwn 9&10 Avenue.
Infor@tsed.org.zw

7. 7TSED NEWSLETTER ISSUE 1 | 2016