By Munyaradzi Kurumwa (26)
For a long time farmers in Chimanimani district in Manicaland province struggled to produce adequate yields to sustain their families. Food insecurity was a daily reality despite the hard work and costly inputs that farmers invested in their farming operations.
This changed when Towards Sustainable Use of Resources Organisation (TSURO) Trust began to spearhead projects to support farmers so that they get better yields. One of the key initiatives was to promote agroecology as an alternative to conventional farming.
My agroecology journey started when I joined TSURO Trust as a graduate trainee under the Knowledge Management Department. When I joined I was merely an intern, however, during my internship I developed a passion for agroecology. I attended a workshop where smallholder farmers we taught to make Bokashi, an organic fertilizer prepared by mixing different organic residues and enriching these with minerals and microbiology before allowing the mixture to ferment.
One of the participants was Josphat Myambo (54), a practicing agroecology farmer who shared his experiences with new farmers.
Josphat lives in Dzingire village ward 16B of Chimanimani district. He shared his story about how he grew maize in the 1990s.
“I spent almost five years practicing conventional farming. I applied artificial fertilizers until the soil reached a time of diminishing returns. Each year my harvest declined and the only solution was to add more fertilizers but this too did not increase my yield,” Josphat narrated.
Applying more fertilizers increased Josphat’s cost of production and in times of drought he would fail to harvest anything. Josphat’s story took a turn for the better in July 2012, when TSURO Trust convened a training on production of Bokashi.
From Josphat’s testimony, I realised that agroecology was a panacea to the challenges faced by farmers, especially those living in dry areas such as some parts of Chimanimani district. Through testimonies like Josphat’s, many farmers in Chimanimani are now adopting agroecology.
From that workshop I learned how to make Bokashi with the goal of being able to apply it at home and be able to teach other farmers as well. My desire is to work as a team with other youths in producing Bokashi and to establish a nutritional garden, growing vegetables for sale because people like vegetables grown organically.