The Macheke Sustainability Project (MSP) is a registered non-profit organization headquartered in NJ, USA. Essentially, MSP is a collection of social business initiatives whose focus is to empower people and eradicate poverty in the village community of Macheke, Zimbabwe. This model of poverty reduction seeks to support people in their goal to becoming self-reliant through social entrepreneurship initiatives. Today there is a vital need for sustainable development in order to shift this community’s future from a state of poverty to one where it is thriving. The holistic approach to development will aid the much-needed changes in health, agriculture, finance, education/IT, and renewable resources. The Macheke Sustainability Project collaborates with Monmouth University’s Institute for Global Understanding in using a research approach to find out what is really needed in Macheke and to assess how any actions on the ground have amounted to the community’s progress. The vision is to make a real contribution to the UN Millennium Development Goals in a community that has struggled to advance on every dimension of poverty.
Sustainability involves the ability for people to live a quality life without depleting the resources that future generations will depend on. MSP’s sustainability model will feature the use of instruction and training to preserve the balance of the natural, social and economic capital in the Macheke life system. All MSP initiatives follow guidelines that aim to empower the locals to progress to self-reliance without the lifelong dependence on foreign aid. People in Macheke have something to give and eager to participate actively in the community. The idea is to help these hard working people to rise to their best potential so that in turn, they can also help others in a way to increase the community’s gross happiness product. One measure of progress will be that everyone in the community has fair access to the basic needs (holistic health, relevant education and adequate/nutritious food). The other measure is how happy people honestly feel when they have access to the freedom and resources to sustain themselves. From a sustainability perspective, the focus shifts from the abject poverty that this community has been subjected to for decades, to the abundance that is possible in Macheke. The following example could help elaborate the thought behind “abundance”: Macheke is “poor” but every rainy season, a wild fruit called Mazhanje grows abundantly in the wild. Mazhanje only occur naturally in this part of the world. This fruit could be harvested to produce an organic jam/butter for sale and the proceeds can be used to invest in relevant sustainability initiatives in Macheke.
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