Agostine Mwaniki (41), the Programme Officer for Society for Alternative Learning and Transformation (SALT says exchange visits are key in development work as they expose participants to different communities and help to deepen understanding on culture and traditions in ecosystems revival.
Agostine lives and works in the Tharaka Community in Kenya and was a participant in the Chimanimani community exchange visit organised by PELUM Zimbabwe.
“This is an opportunity to learn about different (cultural) practices that can be incorporated into agroecology. (For example) you look at how holistic land and livestock management is practiced in Chikukwa community. I see how the practice is helping in the preservation of natural farmlands. The practices are different here as compared to Tharaka (in Kenya),” says Agostine.
Agostine says the exchange visit reminds him of the relationship that human beings should have with nature. “These exchanges enable us to learn and incorporate coexistence between humans and nature,” he says.
Elias Ncube (65), the Training Manager for Africa Centre for Holistic Management (ACHM) also took part in the exchange visit. Elias says knowledgeable elders play a critical role as holders of ancient wisdom used to sustain the ecosystem. This is vital because it helps communities to adopt relevant technical knowledge and to integrate it with indigenous knowledge.
“I have noted that there is involvement of community leaders and elders (in Chikukwa community, Chimanimani district). This is important because it makes it easier to make progress as far as sharing knowledge is concerned,” says Elias.
Belinda Sirimoyi (24), a youth working with Chikukwa Ecological Land Use Community Trust (CELUCT) says exchange platforms allow knowledge sharing among different cultures as well as strengthening the local culture.
“We are learning a lot from these exchange visits. These visits enable us to share our experiences with other people from other places. We get to put our theoretical knowledge into practice and to participate in the traditional ceremonies. This is helping in preserving our culture and our land,” says Belinda.
Participants of the exchange visit managed to take part in the food and seed exhibition at CELUCT where various local foods and traditional seeds were shared and celebrated.
Charity Kwenzani (47), the Agricultural Technical Extension (AGRITEX) Officer working with Chinyika Community Development Trust (CCDT) participated in the exchange visit. Charity says the diversity of seeds and crops held under the custodianship of smallholder farmers in Chikukwa community has inspired her to encourage farmers in Gutu district to adopt revive traditional knowledge, practices and seeds.
“The diversity of crops and seeds here is astonishing. It shows how vibrant and effective the community is managing the ecosystem. One can see that there is a wide diversity of seeds which is something that we can all emulate and adopt back in our communities,” says Charity.
Agostine says there is need for more youth involvement in order to ensure continuation and strengthening of the work. “We need to involve the youths so that we spread knowledge on our traditional practices to them,” he says.
The exchange visit is one of the activities under PELUM Zimbabwe’s multi-year joint learning programme intended to create a ‘network’ of communities that are re-rooting themselves in their landscapes and increasingly practicing planned grazing with their livestock to regenerate depleted landscapes.
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