Chaseyama Youths take a lead in spreading agroecology

Youths drawn from several villages in Chaseyama community working with PELUM Zimbabwe member, Participatory Organic Research Extension and Training (PORET) Trust in Chimanimani District are being trained on permaculture design and sustainable environmental management practices which they are implementing in their communities. Photo: Collins Chirinda/PELUM Zimbabwe.

Simbarashe Kembo (34) says he grew up in Chaseyama village believing that getting an education was the only way to earn an income. Simbarashe worked hard in school and got good grades, but this did not land him a job in the city as he had imagined. Instead, he stayed in the village and each year he witnessed the land dying and his family struggling to grow enough food to last them till the next harvest.

“I decided to join the Permaculture Design trainings offered by PORET. I wanted to learn about sustainable environmental management and sustainable agriculture. That is when my interest in agriculture started,” he says.

Simbarashe says the trainings he received through the Participatory Organic Research Extension and Training (PORET) Trust have enabled him to gain the knowledge and skills needed to heal depleted landscapes and produce adequate food. He says he is practising water harvesting and gulley reclamation.

Chitenderano Mutyadzanga (45) is the Project Officer at PORET Trust. Chitenderano says his organisation has been working with youths in Chaseyama since 2022 by holding periodic learning courses targeting youths. Through these courses and further on field support and edutainment activities, PORET Trust is enabling youths in Chaseyama community to develop a positive attitude and keenness towards care for the environment and agroecology.

Chitenderano says PORET Trust has trained more than 120 youths on permaculture. These youths have gone on to implement small projects in the communities.

“Youths are integral in the protection of the community. Our trainings aim at giving the responsibility of environmental management to youths because they are the future. Trained youths have been able to successfully support our programmes, and this has promoted food self-sufficiency and biodiversity conservation,” he explains.

Nomore Chieza (23) is a junior village head in Chaseyama. He says the work being done by PORET Trust is invaluable for the community and guarantees a sustainable future.

“More youths are being trained and the number of youths participating in environmental protection is increasing. Youths have become forerunners of environmental conservation and protection in our community,” says Nomore.