My last letter was about my trip to Malawi and Kenya in October, linked to the McKnight Foundation and all the work around Farmer Research Networks. Here I want to give you a quick idea of a meeting held just before that trip. You know the Food and Seed festival because you’ve visited a couple of times. A pity you couldn’t come this year; it was my first time after missing two years for various reasons, including the postponement last year because of the cholera outbreak. I was very impressed with the improvements that have come about and there was higher attendance than ever. 2020 could be an even bigger event if the link with AFSA comes about, which is looking likely at the moment.
You would have enjoyed very much the meeting that I’m going to give you a snippet of here. Earlier in the year Gertrude, who you know of, and I met with Astrid, who travels in her old truck around Zimbabwe initiating grassroots efforts with communities to manage their livestock much more actively, rather than letting them wander around. Her big passion and vision is the restoration of Zimbabwe’s river systems. You and I have talked often on my visits to you about the need for this. You’ve even been toying with the idea of beginning something in your community – I’m not sure where that has got to? It’s not easy, however critical it may be.
Anyway, the three of us hatched a plan to bring together people who have been doing something along these lines to share with each other and to start talking about how to work in a more linked-up way. Gertrude and her PELUM team organized this first gathering to coincide with the Food and Seed festival.
On the Friday afternoon, in the wake of the second national seed fair, 21 people sat in a circle under some trees in the Botanical gardens and shared a little bit about what they’re doing. Solomon from TSURO and Patience of CELUCT work in Chimanimani district, and Primrose came from the Matobo Research station. From Hwange communal area came Ivy a farmer, Albert of Agritex and Brent and Laurie of Soft Foot Alliance. Enock is a commercial cattle farmer in Zvimba district.
There were also Maria, John, Jerry, Patience and Ruvimbo, whose organisations are not yet doing anything around planned livestock grazing but are interested, linked to their other Agroecology work.My friend Paul from Chinyika was there too; since then Astrid has visited them in Gutu and they are starting a process with five villages towards planned grazing. Tony and Sarah came representing the centre near Vic Falls on Dimbangombe ranch where all of this work grew from. Sarah gave an overview of the holistic management decision-making framework.
And there were other interested individuals such as Zia who supports Astrid in her work in various ways, Miche and Flora, two ‘food ritual’ friends visiting from the UK, and Dingaan who works with communities and schools in Mat South. One person I missed was Osmond, who is working with communities towards planned grazing in Shurugwi. '
Theo, Gertrude’s right hand man in the PELUM-Zimbabwe secretariat, welcomed us all and handed over to me to guide the meeting, in Gertrude’s absence – she had a meeting in Uganda that she had to attend.
I thought it was a lovely first step towards doing more together. A diverse bunch of people, all passionately involved in one way or another in working with the land and communities. Astrid put a map of Zimbabwe on the ground in the middle of the circle and everyone marked the river catchments where they are working. At the end there were dots across the country. The most important product of all this work is water….or is it community cohesion?
Each person told his or her story, briefly, except for Paul who as an elder was given a little longer to tell his story of the revival of finger millet in Chinyika! Before writing you this letter to tell you about the gathering, I read through all the stories, which Theo captured in full – I will bring you a copy of this when I come. You get a sense of people out there in communities, knowing the problems, continually learning more about the problems, trying out various methods, changing when necessary. I also got the sense of people struggling on their own and wanting to be more linked-in, which is the aim of this process, wherever it goes. It’s about planned grazing, but it’s also about much more than this.
Of those already implementing planned grazing in some way or another, TSURO, along with sister organization, CELUCT, have probably gone further than others in their work across six wards – more than 4,000 cattle are being herded. But still there are lots of challenges, such as grass poaching by livestock owners who have not put their livestock into the communal herd. Some perhaps unexpected benefits that are already apparent are a reduction in accidents on the Mutare-Birchenough road because of fewer wandering cattle, and less cattle rustling where people are putting their livestock into a joint herd.
TSURO tried the movable boma practice in cropping areas but found the materials too expensive to keep going. However, the Soft Foot Alliance have found a way for communities to make their own bomas in an inexpensive way and that has been their focus in the last couple of years,having struggled with communities not implementing their planned grazing. They now feel ready to return to this. Albert, of Agritex, is working with Ivy and others in the Jambezi area of Hwange, with rotating night bomas in cropping areas “to boost the fertility of croplands”.
At Matobo research station they decided to use pigs and chickens to illustrate to others at the station the benefits of animal impact in the right way. This tactic has worked and now the door has been opened for them to use planned grazing with a herd of about 300 on 7000 hectares.
Enock has observed how his land has degraded on his farm in the last few years and so contacted Astrid who has been advising him. He will start the planned grazing this rainy season and has linked up with others in his area.
The meeting ended, as dusk approached, sharing possible ways of staying in touch and learning from each other. There was agreement that some kind of joint programme should come about. What form it takes will emerge.
If you get something going in your community, Mainini, you’ll be able to tap into this. Knowing about this initiative may even be a catalyst to you doing something perhaps? But let me not push you. You’re already doing much and your body is not young any more, even if your mind is!
Stay well and much love,
Dambudzo.
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