Abstract:
The study assesses the contributions of cooperative gardens brought by Help German
in the process of reducing vulnerability and enhancing rural development through putting the
poor as their first target in the community. The research was conducted in ward 25 of Gutu
District which is situated in Masvingo Province. Rushwaya community has experienced severe
droughts due to erratic rainfalls being received in the area as a result of climate change. In a bid
to reduce vulnerability of such communities to further disasters, NGOs like Help German came
in to help the people. The research pinpoints how the beneficiaries benefited from participating
in the program and indicates how Help German helped the local people in improving their
livelihoods. The researcher used both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques to
solicit information related to the study. Questionnaires and interviews were administered to the
respondents by the researcher. Focus group discussions and observation were also used to collect
data from the respondents. Stratified random sampling and simple random sampling were used
as sampling procedures to select respondent a sample of 30 respondents was obtained
representing a population of 15 villages participating in the project. The researcher concluded
that Cooperative Gardens have greatly improved the standards of living of Rushwaya community.
The community`s capitals have been improved through the livelihoods brought by Help German
which are cooperative gardens, livestock production and rehabilitation projects. The researcher
recommends that for the programme to be sustainable a lot has to be done on water harvesting
because the community is still receiving inadequate rainfall for gardening
