Harare’s Ward 10 is one of the few communities to have made headway in addressing environmental issues. Their latest project is the establishment of tree and flower nurseries.
So far there are three flower nurseries in Sunningdale able to produce 4,500 flowers every two months. The single tree nursery in Hatfield currently houses 10,000 plants. Councillor for the area, Hammy Madzingira, said that he started the project through a community participation initiative.
“The project started in April. Our aim is to give ten flowers and two trees to each household in Ward 10 for planting outside their yards. We will also plant trees along all our roads. The surplus trees and flowers will be sold on discount to other Harare residents to fundraise for road rehabilitation and other services,” said Madzingira.
“We were given the nursery spaces by residents. I provide all the other resources such as sand, plastics and fuel required for the project. I also provide the motorbike that is used to collect seeds in different places around Harare,” explained Madzingira.
Madzingira said that his aim is to grow 400,000 trees and flowers by November for distribution and planting on National Tree Planting day in December. However, the councillor said that they were facing various challenges in making the project a success.
“We need help to establish greenhouses to protect our plants against frost. At the moment we have one but we need two more greenhouses which cost $500. The other challenge is space for the flowers when we remove them from the nurseries. We need three more flower nurseries,” he said.
So far the councillor is working with three volunteers, Martin (from Council), Trymore Mwasha and Boyce Muzere. Mwasha said that he was inspired to take part in the project by the need for improving the Sunningdale community.
“Council is aiming to make Harare a world class city by 2025, so as residents we need to play our part in improving our areas. This project will make Sunningdale stand out as a beautiful suburb,” said Mwasha.
Muzere also said that he was inspired to join the project by the need to improve their area, “I was inspired by the beauty in town and other areas where there are flowers everywhere, so I offered to collect seeds and I am glad it is progressing well.”
Other projects that this green-focused councillor and his community have managed to initate include the rehabilitation of the wetland on the corner of Seke Road and Boshoff Drive into a park, and the recuperation the forlorn Sunningdale 2 Shops park.
The work there is being carried out by volunteer artists from the area.
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