Culture fund supports 350 projects in Zim

Farai Mpfunya, the fund’s executive director says his organisation has since visited all the sponsored projects. “In terms of governance, all is okay with the projects we visited. Our next task is to evaluate the projects’ impact on the culture front.”
When the fund was launched in 2004 with financial support from SIDA, it ambitiously set the targeted number of projects to 850. “The fund indeed managed to sponsor the 850 projects although we faced challenges monitoring their implementation. There were only two programme executives and it was indeed a tall order,” says Mpfunya.
In 2005 consultants were engaged to evaluate the projects’ implementation and the overall sponsorship package. Among the recommendations from the consultants was the need to revamp the trust’s board. Mpfunya says: “It was felt that the board should not only comprise of artists or arts managers as was the case with the founding members.” The challenge, says Mpfunya was that all those who sat on the board could not apply for funding and this frustrated some of them. There were six members on the board representing the six arts disciplines.
It was also recommended that the projects be trimmed from 850 to 150 a year.
Another area identified by the consultants was that of training. “Training has been our priority and so far this year we have held 17 workshops aimed at equipping artists with various managerial skills,” says Mpfunya.
A joint training programme with the British Council dubbed Creative Enterprises was launched and will run for three years. At the moment 50 people are enrolled for the programme.
Mpfunya says they receive hundreds of project proposals each year and the screening process has been the most difficult part. A project can receive as much as US$15 000 and not more.
Mpfunya says: “Our aim is to sponsor 150 various projects each year for the next three years. The grants we offer are for small projects as we can not give more than US$15 000. For programmes that require more funding we usually assist by bringing in partners who can supplement our grants.”
The fund sponsors 18 festivals annually that receive a grant of US$10 000 each.
The idea to launch the Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust was mooted by stakeholders in 2002 and 2003. Mpfunya says: “There was need to create a culture fund that would be driven by Zimbabweans. SIDA sponsored various workshops that came up with the idea to launch the trust fund.” 
The fund’s current board comprises Luxon Zembe (Chairperson), Sarah Ndlovu (Vice Chairperson), Farai Mpofu, Busi Bango, Dr. Zifikile Gambahaya, Serman Chavula and Mpfunya (Executive Director).