The Africa Centre for Rural Economy (ACRE) creates and delivers opportunities for people to participate in convenings and events that meet stakeholders’ needs to achieve economic, professional, social or community objectives towards the goal of inclusive and sustainable rural economic transformation. ACRE is an operating unit of AGRISWIFT (Private) Limited, a social enterprise incorporated under the Companies Act of Zimbabwe. Read more about our business
Registered Name: Agriswift (Pvt) Ltd | Registered Number: 5852/2018 | Registered Date: 17th May 2018
Our Vision
Prosperous rural communities with economically and environmentally sustainable livelihoods.
Our Mission
To positively impact rural livelihoods by addressing key challenges and unlocking value in rural assets. To achieve this, we design and produce convenings as dynamic knowledge networks and sharing platforms for engagement that translate ideas into action.
Ubuntu Philosophy
Ubuntu: ‘Impact through Empathy’
Our Brand Strategy
Our brand strategy is centred on the idea of ‘Impact through Empathy’. ‘Impact’ signifies that we are a community of partners who are dedicated to making a real and positive difference. If we are not truly involved, we cannot achieve our mission. ‘Empathy’ explains the kind of intellectual and emotional engagement with the world that we believe in and promote. People are at the centre of everything we do. This idea echoes the African ethos while framing it with universal appeal and suggesting action and results.
Shared Humanity – Deeply African, yet truly universal.
Shared Knowledge – Ideas are fundamentally a network of other ideas.
Inter-connectedness – Rural and urban are one. I am because you are.
Shared Responsibility, Shared Prosperity –Collective action and cross-sectoral linkages
The RED Forum ‘Zunde’
- ‘Zunde ramambo’ is a traditional welfare system in Zimbabwe where able bodied members of the community work together to produce food for the aged, disabled and orphans.
- Traditionally, it was an important component of village food security in time of drought and hardship. The word ‘Zunde’ does not lend itself to a direct English translation. A close derivative is from the word ‘sunda’, which means “to push”.
- The prefix Z or Zi in Shona generally ascribes great increase in effort, size and/or quantity, as in the country name itself ie imba yebwe, house of stone – Zimbabwe when it becomes the great house of stone. ‘Ramambo’ means ‘of the chief’ so Zunde Ramambo is Chief’s Zunde
- Zunde does not technically mean a cooperative or a club, but a traditional practice of motivating action and bringing together community members as one, for the good of the community as a whole.
- Zunde can therefore be translated as “the great push”, viz, a great mobilisation & motivational push for action towards a common goal. The RED Forum is a ‘Zunde’, viz, the great mobilisation and motivational push for rural economic transformation in a multi-sectoral approach.