Delta Corporation’s ‘Smart drinking and moderation innovation challenge’ ongoing

GIANT beverages producer, Delta Corporation Limited, last year joined hands with The Boost Fellowship to launch the Smart Drinking and Moderation Innovation Challenge initiative, which runs from April 2024 to December 2026 under the theme “Above the Influence”.

The two organisations held a Leadership Bootcamp in Harare from April 14 to 17, 2024, which was attended by 106 Enactus Zimbabwe student leaders from 13 different universities.

Delta Corporation said it launched the programme in a bid to curb drug, substance and alcohol abuse among youths.

According to a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 12 percent of adolescents aged between 10 and 19 in Zimbabwe engage in heavy episodic drinking and abuse different illegal substances, which is detrimental to their health and wellbeing.

The initiative is meant to raise awareness about the risk and consequences of alcohol, drug and substance abuse among young people with the aim to eliminate their harmful impact on the country’s youthful population.

The boot camp paved the way for capacity building of students on different topics that will help them implement their initiatives, such as supporting legislative framework, and how to run effective advocacy as well as awareness campaigns in communities on the negative impact of alcohol and drug abuse.

“We have learnt a lot about the results of alcohol abuse, which includes gang violence, dropping out of school, suicides, gender-based violence and risky sexual behaviour, among other things.

“We are ready to go on and share the knowledge with our colleagues at school,” said Wisdom Munemo, a student from the Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University.

Speaking at the official launch of the Smart Drinking and Moderation Innovation Challenge on the 4th day of the bootcamp, Delta Corporation general manager corporate affairs, Patricia Murambinda, said her organisation believes that the harmful use of alcohol is bad for communities, and that university hubs, as leading innovators, should help solve the scourge of drug, substance, and alcohol abuse in communities.

“As a responsible business, we believe in the wellness of our consumers. We believe that when you drive, you should not drink, and that consumers should understand why and how alcohol should be consumed within the limits,” she said.

“It’s our collective responsibility as youths to proffer solutions in our respective communities, particularly on the harmful effects of illicit substance and drug abuse.

“We are investing in this programme to witness high impact and scalable innovation solutions to address the problem,” said Murambinda.

Tinoda Moyo, a social media expert, encouraged the students to use social media and relevant technological solutions to campaign and advocate for better and safer communities for youths, while offering preventive measures, highlighting the power of social media as a tool for behavioural change in today’s tech savvy society.

Speaking at the same event, Sergeant Muringwa, representing the Zimbabwe Republic Police, encouraged the learners to report incidents in their communities. He implored them to work hand-in-hand with law enforcement agents in tackling the challenge of drug, substance, and alcohol abuse.

“I would like to urge all students present at this launch to work hand-in-hand with our law enforcement agents in (their) respective areas, and not to take the law into (their) own hands,” he said.

“You are our watchdogs in your residential areas. We look forward to partnering with you on this noble campaign launched by Delta Corporation Limited in partnership with The Boost Fellowship.”

Unveiling the 2024 thematic focus, the students were tasked with developing innovative projects to help in fighting drug, substance, and alcohol abuse initiatives aligned to six thematic areas.

These included illicit drinking, drinking, and driving, alcohol and pregnancy, binge drinking, underage drinking, and sugary drinks and health.

The teams ran awareness campaigns and rolled out innovative models to address drug, substance and alcohol abuse in their tertiary institutions and communities for a maximum of eight months.

Their final initiatives were adjudicated in December 2024 at the Smart Drinking and Moderation Innovation Challenge for further upscaling and investment, courtesy of Delta Corporation Limited.herald