THE importance of growing traditional grains and conserving indigenous seed varieties was brought to the fore during the Mwenezi Food and Seed festival held at Neshuro growth point this Wednesday.
A showcase of the best of what Zimbabwe has to offer in terms of traditional grains, the event left traditional leaders convinced that indigenous knowledge is the best foot forward.
“Such programmes give us joy as traditional leaders because everything that has to do with bringing back our culture, values and customs, in this instance traditional food, we support such efforts,” Chief Neshuro said.
Another traditional leader, Chief Mazetese weighed in, “Many people are falling sick mainly because of the unhealthy food we eat these days. Long back, there were no hospitals, but our forefathers knew what to eat to cure ailments and they grew organic crops hence incorporating that into our lives is the right thing to do.”
“We have learnt a lot from this event and there are certain crops that our fathers used to grow and food which they used to eat that we do not remember anymore and such programmes are key in educating the youths on our cultural food,” Chief Gezani added.
The festival saw communities in and around Mwenezi District sharing notes on how to build a more sustainable and resilient food system with farmers in the area being challenged to embrace climate smart agriculture techniques.
“We organised this event after realising that hybrid seeds do not grow well in areas like Mwenezi hence we want to encourage communities here to grow traditional grains and organic seeds for high quality yields and for their health as well. The event is also a platform for farmers to exchange knowledge and seeds so that our area is food secure,” said Mwenezi Development Training Centre executive director, Ms Promise Makoni.
Speaking on the same issue, PELUM Zimbabwe coordinator, Theophilous Mudzindiko said, “The programme which is part of efforts to climate proof the agriculture here is going to be held at national level where farmers from across the country will converge and share notes and organic seeds.”
The annual event dovetails with government’s efforts to climate proof the country’s agriculture sector through programmes such as Pfumvudza/Intwasa as explained by Director for Coordination in the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Ms. Rosemary Chingwe.
“Government rolled out the Pfumvudza/ Intwasa programme which is ensuring that rural communities are food secure and to date the Pfumvudza inputs are distributed according to the ecological regions. This means farmers in dry parts of the country like Mwenezi receive mainly traditional grains inputs that do well in this region,” she said.
The Mwenezi Food and Seed festival was running under the theme, “Nurturing our Future, Reviving our heritage.
