Community-led humanitarian innovation in rural Zimbabwe: a case study of Ongaeshi’s interventions in Gandanzara

Humanitarian interventions in sub-Saharan Africa have traditionally been dominated by external actors employing top-down models. However, in recent years there has been increasing recognition of the value of localised, community-driven responses to chronic development and humanitarian challenges. Zimbabwe, and particularly its rural areas such as Manicaland Province, exemplifies a context where localised approaches are not only desirable but necessary.

Gandanzara, a rural locality in Manicaland Province in eastern Zimbabwe, reflects national patterns of food insecurity, poor infrastructure, and limited access to quality education and healthcare. This case study examines Ongaeshi, a local humanitarian organisation operating in Gandanzara, and evaluates how its community-led interventions intersect with multiple dimensions of sustainable development.

This case study relies on data collection that was retrieved through:

• Semi-structured interviews with 15 key informants, including teachers, local council members, caregivers, project staff, and community elders.
• Focus group discussions with three separate stakeholder groups: eight youth programme participants, 10 caregivers of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), and six school staff members.
• Participant observation during visits to borehole sites, school infrastructure, and information and communications technology (ICT) hubs.
• Document analysis of Ongaeshi’s internal reports, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tools, funding applications, newsletters, and impact summaries (2021–2024).
• Community scorecards and participatory mapping to capture local evaluations of programme priorities and delivery.

Ethical clearance was secured through informed consent from all participants. Names were anonymised and data was stored securely. The research followed ZimStat’s Ethical Guidelines for Social Science Research in Zimbabwe (2021), respecting cultural protocols and ensuring reciprocity by sharing findings with the community.

The socioeconomic landscape of Gandanzara

Gandanzara’s population predominantly relies on rain-fed agriculture, which is highly susceptible to climate variability, including recurrent droughts and cyclones. The poverty rate exceeds national averages, and there is an acute shortage of basic services. Public schools operate with limited resources, and health facilities are scarce or under-equipped. Furthermore, the lingering effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic have resulted in high numbers of OVC, who are often excluded from formal education and social support structures.

Humanitarian conditions in Manicaland Province have historically been affected by cyclones (notably Cyclone Idai in 2019) and successive economic shocks. Over 30% of rural households experience food insecurity. Clean water is not reliably accessible, and digital infrastructure is virtually non-existent outside urban centres. Humanitarian efforts by international organisations have made contributions, but gaps in reach, relevance and sustainability persist.

The Ongaeshi model: interventions and impact

The Ongaeshi model consists of four main interventions: educational support, borehole drilling, water access and digital inclusion through ICT hubs. There is also an annual Christmas drive. A fifth key intervention, school gardening and food security, is proposed for launch in November 2025.

Education support

Educational support for OVCs, Ongaeshi’s scholarship programme, directly supports over 50 OVCs annually across three schools. By covering school fees, uniforms and essential learning materials, the programme addresses both the financial and psychosocial barriers (death of parents, stigma and discrimination) that often result in school dropout. Teacher interviews suggest a marked improvement in attendance and academic performance among programme participants. Importantly, the initiative also builds relationships with caregivers and local authorities to ensure long-term support mechanisms.

Borehole drilling and water access

The provision of clean water through borehole drilling addresses multiple Sustainable Development Goals simultaneously: health, education and food security. In 2023, Ongaeshi drilled three boreholes, benefiting over 1,000 individuals. As mentioned in the M&E reports reviewed for this case study, clean water has reduced waterborne diseases, improved school sanitation, and enabled small-scale irrigation, which supports nutritional diversity for both households and schools.

Digital inclusion through ICT hubs

The ICT initiative aims to democratise access to technology. The hubs, powered by solar energy, will train teachers and students in basic digital literacy, offer access to e-learning platforms, and serve as community innovation spaces, particularly for youth.

Initial feasibility studies conducted by local officers project that each hub could support up to 150 users per month. This project seeks to address structural digital inequalities, preparing rural students for participation in the global knowledge economy.

Annual Christmas welfare drive

Although seasonal, the Christmas drive reaches over 200 vulnerable households with food parcels, clothing and hygiene products. As well as providing essential goods, this initiative has broader psychosocial significance. Community interviews suggest that it fosters social cohesion, reinforces a sense of belonging, and boosts morale during emotionally challenging times.

Proposed school gardening and food security

Set to launch in November 2025, the school gardening project exemplifies integrated development planning. The goals are threefold:

• enhance school feeding programmes through direct food provision;
• provide hands-on agricultural education linked to national curriculum goals;
• generate income through surplus produce sales.

By involving learners, teachers and parents, the initiative fosters local ownership and skills transfer, while also promoting sustainability through composting and water conservation practices.

How Ongaeshi’s model aligns with theoretical and conceptual frameworks

The humanitarian–development nexus

The humanitarian–development nexus seeks to integrate short-term emergency assistance with longer-term resilience-building. Ongaeshi’s interventions straddle the line between emergency relief and development planning, demonstrating the humanitarian–development nexus in action. For instance, water access reduces immediate health risks while enabling agricultural productivity over time.

Community resilience

Drawing on community resilience theory, the organisation’s model builds adaptive capacity defined as the community’s ability to self-organise, learn and innovate in response to stressors. By targeting different but interconnected sectors, Ongaeshi increases the community’s ability to absorb shocks and bounce forward, not just back.

Localisation of aid

The Grand Bargain (2016) emphasised the need for aid localisation. Ongaeshi operates on principles aligned with localisation, promoting decision-making by those most affected. The co-creation of solutions with local stakeholders contrasts with the dependency-producing models common in externally managed interventions. Ongaeshi’s model illustrates how a community-based organisation can mobilise resources, sustain legitimacy, and lead effectively.

Intersectorality and systems thinking

The convergence of water, education, agriculture and digital inclusion in Ongaeshi’s programming reflects a systems thinking approach. Such intersectoral strategies are increasingly recognised as best practice in rural development.

Strengths and policy implications

Ongaeshi’s model reflects a holistic and synergistic approach to humanitarian development. Each initiative complements the other e.g., water access enables gardening, and education is enhanced by better nutrition and ICT skills. The projects are designed to be sustainable, so that they transition from donor dependence to community-led ownership. And there is an emphasis on inclusivity, with special attention paid to gender equity, especially in ICT training and scholarship selection.

This model has wider policy implications. It’s one that could be adopted in other rural contexts facing similar challenges, and is potentially scalable, to meet growing demands. There is also opportunity for government collaboration; buy-in and support from government ministries could further amplify impact. And finally, there is an ongoing need for M&E: more sophisticated M&E frameworks could support evidence-based scale-up, allowing the model to develop even further.

Conclusion

This case study illustrates that community-led humanitarian innovation, when embedded in local realities and integrated with long-term development goals, can yield tangible and lasting improvements in rural resilience and wellbeing. Ongaeshi’s interventions in Gandanzara are not just filling gaps left by the state, they are reimagining what localised humanitarianism can look like in the Global South.

Further research should explore how such models can be scaled, funded and institutionalised within national development plans and global aid architectures.

Melody Gambe is the Programs Coordinator for Ongaeshi