CYDT bridges AI knowledge gap among community-based organisations
By Staff Writer
PLUMTREE, MATABELELAND SOUTH — The Community Youth Development Trust (CYDT) conducted a specialized artificial intelligence training workshop in Plumtree last week, equipping Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) across the district with practical digital skills to modernize operations, safeguard data privacy, and counter digital misinformation.
The capacity-building initiative was launched after CYDT observed that grassroots civil society groups, despite possessing critical local expertise and implementing key community interventions remain largely excluded from utilizing constructive digital tools that can streamline their daily work.
According to CYDT Programs Officer Bongiwe Dube, the training focused on addressing this digital divide by demonstrating how practical AI applications can strengthen core organisational functions, including project proposal writing, field research, monitoring and learning, fundraising, and public communication.
“We realised that many CBOs were not yet utilising AI as a constructive tool to support their programming and organisational work, yet these organisations hold valuable community knowledge, lived experiences, and locally driven solutions,” Dube said.
“For us, AI is not about replacing community knowledge or the people who hold it. It is about giving community organisations the tools to amplify their knowledge, improve the quality of their work, save time, and increase their impact.”
For participating community practitioners, the sessions dispelled long-held misconceptions that emerging technologies are meant solely for information and communications technology (ICT) professionals.
Alice Masawi, Acting Director of Eco Justice, acknowledged that before attending the workshop, she was hesitant to explore AI due to fears over technical complexity and the risk of misleading outputs.
“The training changed my perspective. I learnt that my community knowledge, experience, and understanding remain the most important part of the work,” Masawi said.
“AI is simply a tool that can support and enhance what I already know.”
Masawi highlighted that the Plumtree workshop exposed critical operational gaps, particularly regarding prompt design and information security. She noted that community practitioners must exercise strict oversight over the nature of data uploaded to digital tools.
“One important lesson was about protecting personal and sensitive information. I realised that I had been sharing information with AI that I should not have been sharing,” Masawi said, emphasizing that grassroots leaders must direct and control all final decisions while utilizing AI as a smart assistant to save administrative time and boost productivity.
Information verification and fact-checking formed another central component of the training curriculum.
Sinethemba Ndebele, Programs Officer at the Community Climate Action Trust, pointed to the adoption of the PAUSE protocol as a practical safeguard against AI-generated hallucinations and false data.
“As community organisations, we need to verify information before sharing it,” Ndebele said.
“The PAUSE protocol helps me stop, check the facts, and avoid spreading misinformation, especially when AI can easily produce false information.”
CYDT affirmed that bridging the technological divide in Matabeleland South remains essential for sustainable grassroots civic engagement, ensuring that community-rooted initiatives gain the visibility, efficiency, and communication leverage needed to influence policy and development outcomes.
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