Shangano Arts to launch veganism project to curb poaching

SHANGANO Arts, an arts organisation based in Hwange, is set to launch a project that aims to promote veganism and conservation among rural communities in Matabeleland North province.

The province is home to a rich wildlife diversity, but also faces the threat of poaching and deforestation. Shangano Arts director Petros Ndhlovu said the project, which will run from next month to December, will use arts and culture as a tool to educate and engage the communities on the benefits of veganism and the protection of wildlife.

“Our aim is to focus on community engagement using arts and culture as a way to showcase various forms of art to educate communities on the importance of conservation and veganism. We want to also focus on the effects of deforestation and lack of plant based diets in rural communities prone to poaching activities.

“The area we work in is near a National Park so wildlife protection is of great importance in this area as most of the animals are in danger from poachers. By getting the community involved in understanding the importance of these animals and also going on vegan diets we are doing our part to protect the community,” he said.

The project will involve vegan workshops with experienced plant based chefs and nutritionists, as well as art workshops with skilled storytellers and poets who will create stories and plays about conservation and plant based diets. The project will also feature drama awareness and theatre awareness sessions, where the audience will be invited to participate in question and answer segments and learn more about the social issues, conservation problems and wildlife crimes affecting their area.

Ndhlovu said they aim to create live theatre twice a month in different communities, and to introduce people to veganism in a nutritional and sustainable way.

“By introducing people to veganism in our rural communities we hope to show people how to thrive on vegan diets in a nutritional way. A lot of people in our community are vegan due to economic reasons thus we hope to show people that their health and lifestyle does not change due to lack of meat. The long term effects we hope to create are creating vegan communities in rural Africa and getting rid of the notion that meat equals wealth. Also less animals will be killed since the ecosystem will not be disturbed by human activities.

“We are going to create community vegan sub groups which will be promoting veganism and good health lifestyles and the sub groups will continue working with our organisation in the communities. We have successfully implemented acting against wildlife crime, Women Vegan Festival, Vegan Children Festival, Workplace Vegan Festival projects and we are currently the only Vegan Arts organisation in Matabeleland North implementing community engagement programmes.

“All our programmes are inclusive to all able bodied and persons living with disabilities. We cater for the deaf, blind and all people as we have skilled personnel trained in sign language and have personnel which speaks more than eight languages namely English, Ndebele, Shona, Kalanga, Tonga, Venda, Nambya, Nyanja, Lozwi among others. No one will be left out to get information on plant based diet,” he said.

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