Rural Enterprise Trust of Zimbabwe (R.E.T.Z)

About us

Rural Enterprise Trust of Zimbabwe (RETZ) is a private non-political and non-profit investment organization created in 2014 to enhance incomes and profitability of rural community livelihoods initiatives. RETZ upholds rural marginalized communities through economic and enterprise development that has a bearing on their wellbeing whilst investing and advocating for an enabling environment and the protection of our planet. In order to achieve this, RETZ develops and builds economic agency amongst rural communities through the implementation of gender and climate-friendly inclusive business systems and pathways that trigger innovative smallholder commodity commercialization for rural transformation and economic development in Zimbabwe.
RETZ strongly believes that communities have the knowledge, resources, and potential to grow ideas that determine their own sustainable development initiatives and therefore providing rural communities with opportunities to apply their skills productively is vital to drive rural local economic growth and catalyze structural transformation. We facilitate entrepreneurship development by strengthening the capacities of local communities through provision of advisory and training services, facilitating knowledge development, networking, and advocating for policies and reforms that create an enabling environment for supporting the growth of ideas, fair business trading, and setting up of local entrepreneurship development facilities.

Our Vision
To see commercialized rural communities who fairly take part in trading and inclusive business with increased production and incomes for enhanced household food security and sustainable livelihoods in Zimbabwe.

Our Mission
To develop and build economic agency amongst rural communities through the implementation of gender and climate friendly inclusive business systems and pathways that initiate innovative smallholder commodity commercialization for rural transformation and economic development in Zimbabwe.

Our Goal
To facilitate the commercialization of rural smallholder farmers agro-and non-agro subsistence initiatives for enhanced incomes, and food and nutrition security.

Our Objectives
• To encourage, facilitate, promote, and advocate for an enabling environment for the development of entrepreneurship among marginalised communities.
• To encourage, facilitate, promote and advocate for sound socio-economic, rural agricultural, and food and nutrition security policies
• To create platforms for information sharing and public discourse on agro-business, rural entrepreneurship, and sustainable development issues,
• To spearhead research and development on rural micro-finance and entrepreneurship.
• To spearhead the development and compilation of community livelihood profiles through participatory rural appraisals and enhance community based planning.
• To promote, develop, and implement systems and technologies for sustainable agriculture and rural business development to enhance community income generating activities whilst ensuring household and national food security.

Project Themes:
• Community-Based Commodity Enterprises (CBCE): Project which seeks to organize and build enterprises trading coalitions amongst grassroots communities. These trading coalitions are transformed into organized formal Commodity Associations/Enterprises that are able to meet trading quality and demands.
• Sustainable Environmental Enterprising (SEE): SEE provides training, capacity building, information, tools and technology that help smallholder farmers and SMEs adapt to climate change. SEE promotes sustainable livelihoods through entrepreneurship and agri-business management by advocating for the development of social enterprises that combat climate change whilst improving the well-being of communities through food security and job creation along the value chain system.
• Inclusive, Transparent, Accountable, Secure and Fair Trading Enterprising (iTASTE): RETZ iTASTE project seeks to create and promote inclusivity, transparency and accountability on issues to do with economic governance and resource access and utilization as a way of ensuring secure and fair trading enterprising among the rural communities.

Tawanda Allen Mandevhana is the Founder and Board Chairperson of the Rural Enterprise Trust of Zimbabwe (RETZ).

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.