December 15, 2015

Bikita Market

Masvingo – Bikita Farmers Market

Masvingo (before 1982 known as Fort Victoria) is a town in south-eastern Zimbabwe and the capital of Masvingo Province. The town is close to Great Zimbabwe, the national monument from which the country takes its name.

The town was known as Fort Victoria until 1982, when its name was briefly changed to Nyanda. Within a few months its name was again changed to Masvingo when it was discovered that Nyanda did not translate very well between dialects. It is the oldest colonial settlement in Zimbabwe, and grew up around the encampment established in 1890 by the Pioneer Column en route to their eventual destination, Salisbury. The Old Fort national monument is located in the centre of town, and was erected in 1891 as one of a series of fortifications to guard the route from Salisbury to the south. The very first cricket match in Zimbabwe is said to have taken place close by in 1890.

Masvingo province is located in the low veld of the country where rainfall is minimal and uncertain. a large of the southern part of the province is drought prone, set as region 5 in the country’s climatic regions. Most parts of the province, therefore, are generally unfit for agriculture, apart from cattle ranching. Masvingo have most of the educated population in Zimbabwe.Hippo Valley estates in Chiredzi and Triangle use the water from Lake Kyle for irrigation.