adminJames Gabaza
DROUGHT-INDUCED hunger is wreaking havoc in Chipinge but some parts of the district are still stuck in “traditional” beliefs which are proving to be a threat to food security.
It is taboo to grow a crop like pearl millet (mhunga), in some parts of Chipinge and Chimanimani, yet if the crop is grown, some farmers will harvest something to feed their families and sell the surplus.
Having done a research on the reasons behind the ban on the growing of pearl millet, may I appeal to the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Jospeh Made to revisit the issue and ensure that the crop is grown in Chipinge and Chimanimani in the interest of food security.
Our district has always been known for its resistance to past droughts but the current dry spell appears to be the worst in memory.
My research into history has revealed that sometime during the colonial era, the then Native Commissioner (predecessor to the present day District Administrators), a Mr Nielsen, nicknamed, Mudzviti Mahohoma by the locals because he hated laziness especially among male Africans, was going round the district of Melsetter (Chimanimani and Chipinge) on a routine visit in his Land Rover accompanied by his head messenger Sgt Mwazwahere (not his real name) when he came across villagers sleeping in the verandas of their huts.
Chipinge and Chimanimani districts were one district at the time.
Mr Nelson’s journey started on a Monday and they were going southwards from Chipinge to Chief Mapungwana, then Chief Gwenzi and finally Chief Mpungu.
In all the villages, they saw men sleeping in the verandas of their huts, even when the sun was high up in the sky.
The Native Commissioner asked the sergeant why able-bodied men were sleeping during the day while the women were busy in the fields.
The answer he got was that they were nursing hangovers after partaking a very potent beer made from a recently introduced cereal from Bocha in Mutare District called mhunga. So strong were the after effects that they could spent an unproductive week while sleeping, he was told. As he proceeded to Mahenye and Chief Garahwa’s areas, the men there were not sleeping, but as he travelled back through Chief Musikavanhu and part of Chief Mutema’s areas, the sleeping trend was rife once more.
The Native Commissioner was so cross that he summoned all the chiefs whose people were found sleeping and directed them to stop their people from growing mhunga forthwith. Fearing resistance and possible civil protests against this order, he connived with the chiefs to tell their subjects that the ban was from the ancestors (vadzimu) since no one would disobey the vadzimus.
And so the ban has stayed to this day.
In my opinion, with this new knowledge and the real threats of climate change, with its persistent droughts, surely it is the right time to reintroduce pearl millet growing.
Obviously its intoxicating power has since been overtaken by other brews over the years so the ban no longer holds water. Our Government policy at this stage promotes the growing of small grains which are more resistant to droughts.
Food for thought.
James Gabaza is Chipinge Zimbabwe Farmers Union District chairman. He can be contacted on 0773264572.
Online Reporter