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Domestic conflicts and grievances are usually common within and among project implementation communities. It usually emanates from land-related disputes, other property ownership complexities, beneficiary targeting criteria, leadership, and other related factors.

Ensuring peaceful co-existence among beneficiary farmers is a key project implementation requirement for the Agriculture Value Chain Development Project (AVDP), in line with the “Do no harm philosophy”. Therefore, the Project Management Unit of AVDP has ensured that appropriate measures are put in place to resolve real-time or potential conflicts and domestic grievances that emanate as a result of project implementation arrangements.

The Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) manual, a resource material used to manage existing and emerging conflicts was developed by a hired consultant and validated in February 2023; to serve as a road map that can be used to amicably resolve grievances that occur during and after the project lifetime.

As Lead consultant for the GRM Assessment and Manual, Tsitsi Muvunzi noted, a “participatory approach was used to validate the GRM manual, in which the key players including the farmers, community stakeholders and local council authorities, youth leaders, project staff as well as staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security all made valuable inputs leading to finalizing the document”.

The participatory farmers particularly noted that the GRM manual will help respond to the many conflicts/grievances related challenges that negatively affect their farming and economic activities.