malvernmugadzikwa
Muchaneta Chimuka
WIDOWS are generally considered disadvantaged, especially in African communities.
Their situation is even regarded as being desperate when they have many dependants.
However, Loveness Khumalo (64) appears to have discovered the key to success.
Even though she is widowed, the eight children under her care have never gone for a single day without food. Her household is food-secure.
Living in Zimbabwe’s Umzingwane district, Matabeleland South province, which is arid, presents its own challenges, especially as the impact of climate change becomes pervasive.
Therefore, the community in the district, Khumalo included, initially survived on donor handouts.
Their seasonal crops, which were largely rain-fed, usually yielded low harvests in good seasons and nothing at all in bad seasons.
And this is a familiar story in some communities in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
However, to mitigate the effects of climate change and promote food security, Government, in partnership with various non-governmental organisations (NGOs), joined hands to encourage the propagation of traditional grains — millet, cowpeas, sorghum and many others.
These seeds are drought-resistant and tend to be economic since they require few to no inputs.
This has led to the establishment of community seed banks (CSBs) in most provinces. These act as backup storage for the seeds that were at the brink of extinction after people switched to hybrid seeds.
CSBs have since changed the lives of local communities for the better, as they provide a buffer against the vagaries of climate change.
“Through the use of CSBs and adoption of traditional grains, my life has been transformed,” said Khumalo.
“Using proceeds from the sale of my produce, I managed to build two four-roomed houses and even sent my children to school.”
In Umzingwane alone, over 100 smallholder farmers are benefiting from the initiative.
Such successes are being replicated in other communities as well.
Mr Patrick Mutepeya, a lead farmer from the Chimukoko Community Seed Bank in Mudzi district, Mashonaland East province, said he has managed to buy livestock, build a seven-roomed house and pay lobola using cash generated from the programme.
According to Lizzy Gonye, a village head in Domboshava, which is also in Mashonaland East province, said seeds stored in these banks last longer compared to those kept in poor-quality containers at home.
“Above all, the seeds are not genetically modified, meaning they are nutritious and are not hazardous if consumed,” she said.
To promote accelerated propagation of traditional seeds, the Government of Zimbabwe has implemented a swap programme through seed fairs, where farmers meet and have an opportunity to exchange seeds of their choice.
Farmers are now being encouraged to establish household seed banks.
The story is the same throughout the region.
Fatima Kanyumba (54) of Malawi, a divorced mother of three children with disabilities, also said farming traditional grains had transformed their livelihoods.
“All my children use wheelchairs and we used to beg on the streets, but relief came last year, after I started using seeds from our local seed banks,” said Kanyumba.
She grows sorghum, millet, traditional vegetables and maize, which she value-adds and sells at her small shop.
She has since managed to drill a borehole.
In Malawi, there are many seed banks run by local non-governmental organisations.
Some are, however, run by the government, working with smallholder farmers.
International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)’s principal scientist Patrick Okori, who is based in Lilongwe, Malawi, said farmers are mobilised into groups and trained to improve access to seed, thereby increasing their productivity, profitability and food security.
“The community seed bank provides a framework for farmers to produce and access seeds of improved crops within their communities,” he said.
“It also supports easy access to knowledge and market spaces. We have established community seed banks in Kongwa, Kiteto and Iringa districts in Tanzania, but it is important to train farmers and extension staff on seed production and management for success stories.”
Training and research
Mr Onismus Chipfunde, head of the Genetic Resources and Biotechnology Institute (National Genebank) in the Department of Research and Specialist Services — which falls under the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development in Zimbabwe — said gene banks can also help in research and education.
“Seed banks can be used for scientific research and education and help in the preservation of the cultural and heritage value of traditional crops,” he said.
Tanyaradzwa Tenesi, the research technician (gene bank’s accelerated crop improvement) at ICRISAT, at the Matopos Research Station, Bulawayo, said research has been key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 2, which is premised on creating a world free from hunger.
“Our scientific research is designed to increase both nutritional quality and quantity of food available through numerous interventions, such as the development of high-yielding and nutrient-dense dryland cereals and legumes, amongst many others,” she said.
“We help smallholder farmers transition from subsistence farming to surplus farming and make farming more profitable through various approaches, such as capacity building, market linkages value addition, among others.”
A similar programme is being run in neighbouring Botswana, where gene banks are largely community-based and operated in a similar manner as those in Zambia.
Some of them provide financial and technical assistance to farmers, as well as access to markets and other resources.
Dr Justify Shava, the head of the SADC Plant Genetic Resource Centre (SPGRC) in Zambia, said the bloc was stepping up efforts to conserve germplasm collections (genetic resources such as seeds) and develop new varieties resistant to climate change and other threats such as pests and diseases.
“The region has collected over 63 000 different accessions of crops (a group of related plant material from a single species) which form the core sources of food for communities in SADC.
“The accessions are safely stored in various gene banks in the SADC region, with some duplicated at the regional gene bank in Lusaka and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the Svalbard Archipelago in the North Pole as a risk-mitigation measure for the SADC region,” said Dr Shava.
“The SADC regional gene bank, at the SADC Plant Genetic Resources Centre, is the facility responsible for coordinating the plant genetic resources conservation and sustainable utilisation in the SADC region.”
Plant breeders, he said, often need quick access to seed banks to develop new varieties in case of natural disasters and other risks and uncertainties.
“To date, SPGRC is home to 19 555 accessions of germplasm of 145 different species, which are the major sources of food for the people of the SADC region.
“These accessions are in the form of orthodox seeds (plants that produce seeds capable of being stored away from their parent plants). They are being stored under controlled conditions at temperatures of negative (-) 18 degrees Celsius. SADC member states are also keeping some more germplasm in their national gene banks and to date, the region has a total of 63 000 accessions collected from farmers’ fields and preserved at various centres in the SADC member states.”
Tanzania, South Africa and Eswatini also have NGOs doing work in the same field, although the projects are still growing as they work closely with communities and government extension workers.
On average, over 40 million people have been estimated to be food-insecure every year by the SADC Regional Vulnerability Assessment Programme over the past five years.
In response, all SADC member states are implementing the seven Malabo Declaration commitments — recommitting to the principles and values of the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) process; enhancing investment finance in agriculture; ending hunger in Africa by 2025; reducing poverty by half by 2025 through inclusive agricultural growth and transformation; boosting intra-African trade in agricultural commodities and services; enhancing resilience of livelihoods and production systems to climate variability and other related risks; and strengthening mutual accountability for actions and results.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter