Alum Loveness Bamala – Advancing gender equality, policies and funding for the training of agricultural extension officers and farmers

After completing the Financing Climate Action Australia Awards Short Course in 2025, Loveness Bamala returned to Zimbabwe with renewed motivation and a strengthened commitment to advancing climate-resilient agricultural development. This led to significant contributions in her role as Chief Training Specialist, including the co-development of a new workplace training policy within the Agriculture Rural Development Advisory Services (ARDAS) parastatal.

The new policy introduced a mandatory gender clause requiring 50–50 gender representation in all training sessions, alongside a resource mobilisation component designed to help farmers and technical staff identify and secure funding opportunities. Both components were approved by the ARDAS Directorate, (since renamed to ADAS) which operates under Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development. This important advancement was a direct result of her enhanced appreciation and understanding of Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI), gained through her short course. In her capacity as the Department’s Gender Focal Person, she recently participated in policy consultations that will inform a new Gender Inclusivity and Wellness Strategy.

As Chief Training Specialist, Loveness coordinates and facilitates training workshops for farmers and technical staff within the ministry. She is also responsible for developing concept notes, the writing of proposals and mobilising resources to support agricultural programs and interventions.

Loveness also applied her proposal-writing skills to help mobilise funding for the capacitation of 2,000 frontline agricultural extension officers across five provinces and 36 districts under Pfumvudza/Intwasa, Zimbabwe’s flagship climate-smart conservation agriculture program. Pfumvudza is a government-led support smart farming model benefiting approximately three million farming households across Zimbabwe’s eight rural agricultural provinces. The program focuses on improving agricultural productivity, maximising yields using minimal inputs, and strengthening climate resilience among smallholder farmers. The blended financing model that Loveness proposed to support the extension officer capacitation program drew contributions from Foundations for Farming (FFF), the United Kingdom International Development Agency, and the Government of Zimbabwe.

In June 2025, Loveness was nominated as the ARDAS focal person for a US$66.5 million International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Horticulture Enterprise Enhancement Project (HEEP) – an initiative designed to uplift more than 50 000 smallholder farmers. In this role she supports training design, resource mobilisation, and program implementation to ensure the delivery of sustainable and scalable benefits for farmers. The project aims to increase incomes, improve food security, and strengthen empowerment for smallholder farmers engaged in profitable and sustainable horticulture value chains. Its broader objective is to boost sustainable horticultural production and increase sales for smallholder farmers and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises participating in the horticulture value chain. Approved in 2022, the HEEP project will run until 2032.

“The short course strengthened my ability to prepare bankable capacity‑building proposals in my role as training focal person”, she adds.

In addition, Loveness Bamala played an instrumental role in drafting Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Pfumvudza after identifying gaps in Monitoring, Verification and Reporting (MRV) – a critical component for ensuring accountability and sustainability in agricultural interventions. Drawing on lessons from the short course, she led the development of a comprehensive SOP framework that was formally endorsed by the Permanent Secretary.

Loveness also collaborated with the World Food Programme (WFP) to develop a concept note and coordinate capacity-building activities focused on Climate Risk Insurance. The initiative supported the training of 122 agricultural extension officers and 10 000 farmers across Zimbabwe in 2026. Funded through the Green Climate Fund, the Climate Risk Insurance initiative also aims to develop and introduce a mobile application and satellite crop monitoring systems to strengthen field-level tracking, improve data accuracy, and support farmers through information-sharing, updates, and climate-related advisory services.

Reflecting on the impact of the Australia Awards Short Course on her work, Loveness Bamala said:

“The experience taught me that innovation does not have to wait for government action or external funding; empowered individuals and teams can drive sustainable change. Through the Australia Awards Short Course, I acquired practical skills in project management, concept note development, resource mobilisation, multi-sector collaboration, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation which are essential for designing and delivering effective climate-resilient interventions to ensure food security in Zimbabwe.”