In the Eastern Highlands in the Chimanimani District of Zimbabwe, cyclone Aida came through several years ago and destroyed much of the cropping varieties along the swamp drainage lines feeding local villages.
One of these was the staple tuber known as ‘Madhumbe’ – Coloasia Esculenta. It’s eaten by villagers in the Chimanimani district for breakfast and lunch so forms an important aspect of their nutritional diet and culture.
The local Zimbabwean organisation PORET – Participatory Organic Research Extension Training – successfully applied to Permafund for a $1450 grant to save the seed of the madhumbe from the plant material left. PORET has long Permaculture roots that branched from the Chikukwa project in the early 1990s.
33 farmers, (22 female & 11 male) were selected to plant the saved seed and encouraged by PORET that, if successful, they were to share that seed the following season with 2 other farmers to increase the production.
The main design strategy was to plant madhumbe on higher ground out of the swamp areas. The farmers were provided a training workshop that taught them how to construct swales on contour so that soil moisture could be maintained when rains came.
Not all the farmers constructed swales but the results indicated that those that did had a far greater success rate and that madhumbe does require good soil moisture to grow well. Another issue was that some farmers had feral pigs destroy the crop so security fencing was needed.
As well as the success of the project saving the seed of madhumbe other benefits became evident. The provision of food security was increased through the training of water and soil management as well as the important aspect of promoting unity among community members by sharing the seed they had grown.
Seed saving has always been a priority area for Permaculture from its beginning and Permafund are pleased to be able to continue that tradition through projects such as this one in Zimbabwe.
Your donations make this possible so thank you for that support. Contributions to Permafund over $2 are tax deductible in Australia and can be made here.
Story by John Champagne
You must be logged in to post a comment.