A smallholder farmer from Masvingo district in Masvingo province has highly praised farm-saved seeds, hailing the work that Zimbabwe Seed Sovereignty Programme (ZSSP) partner, the Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers’ Forum (ZIMSOFF) is doing in the province.
ZIMSOFF is working with smallholder farmers in Masvingo to empower them to attain food sovereignty in the face of a repressive and monopolised food systems.
Sithokozile Matafine Chikuni (48) and her family did not have any interest in producing farm-saved seeds. He husband was very skeptical about their ability to produce enough food to feed their family using farm-saved seeds.
“My husband used to look down on farm-saved seeds,” says Sithokozile.
However, through engagement with ZIMSOFF and witnessing irrefutable evidence of the benefits of growing farm-saved seeds, Sithokozile’s husband’ has shifted his beliefs. He now speaks highly of farm-saved seed and advocates for farmers rights to grow, save and exchange farm-saved seeds.
“My husband now sees the importance of farm-saved seeds. We no longer buy hybrid seed and associated inputs. As a result, we are able to save money,” adds Sithokozile.
“In the last farming season, the hybrid variety was severely damaged by the fall army worm whilst the red sorghum performed even better than expected. We produced seven tonnes and many farmers and the community in general came to purchase the sorghum grain from our harvest. We bought seven cattle with the income we generated,” says Sithokozile.
“We have also realized that the traditional maize is not prone to weevils. It can go up to eleven months without any traces of weevil attack and the seeds are readily available. This enables us to plant early,” says Sithokozile.
Envisioning the future Sithokozile and her husband see a growth in the appreciation of the benefits of farm-saved seeds as more people are becoming more conscious of the food they eat.
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