Victoria Falls community urged to diversify to address food insecurity

Tourism-reliant Victoria Falls has been reminded of the need to diversify economic activities and build resilience in response to the Covid-19 induced effects which left many residents food-insecure.

For Victoria Falls City which depends heavily on income from tourists, the biggest lesson has been, never to put all eggs in one basket.

Women in Tourism Matabeleland North Chairperson and Help Victoria Falls 2020 Project Coordinator, Mrs Stellah Mthunzi says Covid-19 should inspire creative thinking.

"I think we need to change our attitude and not rely solely on tourism as our only source of income. We need to come up with other means for us to survive.

"Depending on one industry is a disaster as we have just experienced, so we need to explore other economic activities. In my own assessment that should be the way to go because covid-19 has exposed us," she said.

As the resort city ponders on ways to navigate the unchartered waters, without international travellers, Help Victoria Falls 2020 has complemented efforts by the Department of Social Welfare by rolling out a community feeding programme targeting hundreds of vulnerable households in Chinotimba.

Mr Jose Louis Regot, Help Victoria Falls 2020 co-promoter added, "The community has welcomed the programme, but this is not enough. Here is Victoria Falls we are around 40 000 people and it is difficult to reach everyone.

"We are working with social workers selecting the vulnerable families who become our priority and those who have lost their income due to closure of tourism facilities."

The country's tourism capital was gutted by the unprecedented pandemic resulting in the closure of many businesses and loss of jobs.

Government's impending roll-out of vaccines has brought hope to the resort town, with tourism players optimistic it will kick-start tourism recovery.