It takes a village: FOST’s approach to kinship care in Zimbabwe

Image © FOST

The Mutamba tree is found across Zimbabwe, flourishing even in the country’s driest regions. Treasured for its use in traditional medicine to treat illness, it is regarded as a tree that belongs to everyone in the community and, therefore, should not be cut down.

This powerful symbol has been adopted as the logo of the Farm Orphan Support Trust (FOST), a not-for-profit organisation providing community-based care for children who have lost one or both of their parents. Just as the Mutamba tree is shared by all, FOST works under the belief that these children are the responsibility of the entire community.

Guided by this ethos, FOST supports ‘kinship care’ for children – care provided by grandparents, relatives, or close family friends. And this care is needed – in some cases, grandmothers take care of as many as 13 children, which can be very challenging, especially as they age. “If it hadn’t been for FOST, I don’t know what I would have done with my grandchildren,” says one grandmother.

By strengthening kinship care, FOST helps ensure that children who have lost one or both parents can remain connected to their communities and siblings, and build on their strengths to thrive.

Kinship care is already widespread across sub-Saharan Africa. According to World Bank Development Indicators data, approximately 510,000 children in Zimbabwe have lost their mother or both parents to AIDS before age 15.¹ Most of these children are cared for within kinship networks. To support these families, FOST runs initiatives such as sports and recreational activities, reproductive health education, entrepreneurship training, and other group-based programmes.

“At FOST, we are looking at sustainable ways of addressing the problem…we don’t want people to be dependent on material support from organisations like ourselves,” says Lynn Walker, Trustee of FOST, Zimbabwe. “So we are looking at how we can support [these households] to support themselves, and to build their own household security.”

Founded in 1995, FOST initially focused on children who have lost parents living in commercial farming communities. These communities often face unique challenges in accessing services and infrastructure, as they are remote, difficult to reach, and isolated from urban centres.

In recent years, the organisation has broadened its scope to support everyone living in farming communities, particularly by promoting food security and sustainable livelihoods. This includes teaching agricultural techniques, encouraging household vegetable gardens, and establishing women’s self-help groups, which provide space for dialogue on parenting, income generation strategies, and other social issues. Since 2003, FOST has enabled over 15,700 children who have lost parents to attend school and supported 15,000 women in establishing small to medium sized businesses through its self-help group approach.²

Rooted in the same resilience and generosity as the Mutamba tree, FOST continues to nurture communities from within, strengthening the networks that already care for their most vulnerable members. By building on local knowledge, shared responsibility, and collective action, the organisation helps ensure that children who have lost parents are not defined by loss, but supported to grow with dignity, opportunity, and hope – firmly grounded in their communities.

Oak supports projects in northeast Zimbabwe by FOST via our Zimbabwe Programme, which funds local organisations involved in supporting the hopes and aspirations of Zimbabweans, particularly those furthest from opportunity.

References:

_{1: Trading Economics. Zimbabwe – Children Orphaned by HIV/AIDS: 2026 Data, 2027 Forecast, 1990–2024 Historical. Available at: tradingeconomics.com/ zimbabwe/children-orphaned-by-hiv-aids-wb data.html (Accessed 23 February 2026).
2: Farm Orphan Support Trust of Zimbabwe (FOST). Farm Orphan Support Trust (FOST). Available at: fost.co.zw/ (Accessed 23 February 2026).}