Tedious Masiya (78) is a smallholder farmer from the Chinyika Community, a rural community in Gutu district located about 280 kilometres south of Harare. Tedious says shifting from using synthetic fertilisers to organic fertilisers has improved his yields.
“Before 2007 I was growing finger millet using [synthetic] fertilizer. In 2007 I became part of the Chinyika community development programme. I then started using organic fertilisers such as Bokashi and I have seen a tremendous change,” says Tedious.
Tedious grows finger millet on one hectare of land. He says using organic fertilisers has helped farmers in Chinyika increase their harvest.
“For example, where a farmer was getting ten 50kg bags they may now be getting twenty or even thirty bags,” says Tedious.
Dr. Paul Muchineripi, the Chinyika community Trust which is spearheading a finger millet movement and revival process in Gutu says his organisation has been working on reviving finger millet for 15 years.
Paul says having dialogues with elders was important to help the community enhance food and economic self-sufficiency. He says severe food shortages caused by droughts was enough cause to encourage the community to work together.
“After discussing with elders we discovered that the crop which does reasonably well in low rainfall areas like Gutu is finger millet. We all agreed to grow finger millet across the 44 wards of Gutu, “says Paul.
Paul says through working with and interacting with strategic partners he was able to learn about and introduce agroecology principles to the farmers in Gutu.
“Through working with the Seed and Knowledge Initiative (SKI), farmers were trained in making and using bio fertilisers and bio pesticides. Besides being ecofriendly and cheap, these have resulted in increased yields of finger millet,” says Paul.
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