Online Reporter
Sifelani Tsiko-Fact Check Editor
FOR Sheber Matibiri (45) of Hwenda Village in Ward 14 of Hurungwe District, the opening of Chivende Community Seed Bank, the first in Mashonaland West Province marks a dramatic turning point for her and the local community.
The construction of the community seed bank (CSB) has embodied and inspired historic changes in how women here in the dry and arid region lived and thought.
Matibiri sees the CSB as much more than a facility for safeguarding Zimbabwe’s fast disappearing seed heritage.
Apart from being an important repository seed bank, she feels strongly that the CSB is an important facility for social connections and survival in the drought-prone Hurungwe district.
“I am so excited about the opening of a community seed bank here in Hurungwe district. It’s an important place for keeping our indigenous seeds which provide us with options for adapting to drought and changing rainfall patterns,” she said.
“It’s not only about the storage of seed and multiplication of local seed varieties. This community seed bank has internet, has a solar borehole and a goat breeding project. In short, this is much more than a community seed bank. It’s a lifeline for us.”
To strengthen resilient seed systems, Community Technology Development Organisation (CTDO) with support from the OAK Foundation, Government and other multilateral partners built the Chivende CSB under the Community Seed Banks for Regenerative Agriculture Project.
The CSB is one of 34 facilities that have been built by CTDO in partnership with various local communities across the country to conserve crop diversity.
This new facility will target to conserve accessions such as sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet, bambara nuts, cowpeas, indigenous vegetables and locally adapted tree species, protecting agricultural biodiversity while strengthening farmers’ access to resilient seed.
The seed bank is connected to national and regional gene banks, helping safeguard locally adapted varieties and linking community conservation efforts to wider plant genetic resource networks.
What makes this CSB unique is its integrated approach to rural development. Its functions do not start and end with the preservation of indigenous seed varieties.
Its primary role is to provide access to locally adapted seed when crops fail, while creating opportunities for farmers to multiply, conserve and share seed, strengthening sustainable livelihoods.
Beyond this, it has a solarised community borehole that provides a vital economic and social lifeline that transforms health, education and food security far beyond just seed preservation.
With reliable, year‑round water access, Matibiri says women and girls no longer spend hours walking long distances to collect water.
“It’s a huge relief for us. We now have easy access to water. Water is so precious here in Hurungwe because it’s a very dry region and water is scarce. For us as women, health and hygiene have also improved,” she says.
“With reliable clean water for drinking, cooking and sanitation, households have seen a reduction in stomach diseases.
Some of the seeds being preserved in the community bank in Hurungwe.
“With access to water, improved hygiene practices are now easier to maintain, contributing to healthier families and safer homes.”
The CSB has a solar system and internet connection in this remote ward in Hurungwe with no access to the national electricity grid and mobile connectivity.
The installation of Starlink digital connectivity at the Chivende CSB has sparked a massive wave of enthusiasm. The internet excites rural youth by bridging the opportunity gap, transforming how they learn, work, and connect with the global community.
“This community seed bank is pure gold for us. There is running water, solar energy, Wifi and a thriving goat breeding project,” says Kudzanai Chirovapasi (47) of Mandizha village in Ward 14 of Hurungwe district.
“Water is our number one need here. I want to thank CTDO and its partners for helping us to construct this community seed bank. With Wifi, I can now talk via WhatsApp with my children, notifying them of illness or death of relatives here.”
She says the goat breeding project is helping them to improve their local breeds.
“CTDO gave us Kalahari and Boer goats to help us improve our local breeds. You just bring your she goats here for breeding. I now have better breeds thanks to this project,” she said.
Says Tendai Kadewere (16): “Internet connection here at the community seed bank is an important development for us. I am very excited about it. With access to the internet, I now receive assistance to research for my school assignments.
“It’s very important for us. It’s a first for us. It means a lot to us as young people.”
Apart from the complementary development initiatives such as solar boreholes, goat breeding and planned fish ponds, CTDO also built a three-roomed house for an Agriculture Business Advisory Officer serving the area.
The successful construction of the CSB has demonstrated the power of community ownership and collective action, bringing together farmers, traditional leaders, Agricultural Business Advisory Officers, local leadership and development partners.
“I am so happy with the opening of the CSB. It is an important facility for preserving indigenous seed varieties. We have a seed multiplication site here and the construction of a house for me, is an important step in easing the accommodation crisis we face as extension workers,” says Isabel Chinguri, Agricultural Business Advisory Officer for Ward 14 in Hurungwe district.
“I can now easily communicate with our offices in Magunje and also train local farmers virtually. It will make my work a bit easier now.”
In a speech read on her behalf by Mr Andrew Tizora, Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Mashonaland West, Marian Chombo said the new facility stands as a strategic centre for the preservation of local seed varieties.
“The establishment of this seed bank serves a critical national objective: ensuring seed and food security in the face of a changing climate,” she said.
“I am deeply impressed to see that the community has already taken the initiative to collect and preserve important indigenous and farmer-managed seed varieties for storage, management, and future use.
“The Chivende Community Seed Bank will play a vital role in curbing crop genetic erosion while promoting the conservation, multiplication, exchange, and sustainable use of diverse seed varieties.”
Mr Andrew Mushita, Executive Director of the Community Technology Development Organisation (CTDO), said the facility is a product of collective effort and partnership.
“To the Chivende community, I would like to leave you with one important message: This is your seed bank,” he says.
“Its success will not be measured by the building, borehole, internet connection or number of seed varieties stored here. It will be measured by whether farmers continue to conserve and multiply their seed; whether young people develop an interest in agricultural biodiversity; whether trees planted today restore degraded landscapes; whether farmers become more resilient to climate shocks; and whether this facility continues to serve the community for many years to come.”
He urged the Seed Bank Committee to maintain accurate records, safeguard the seed, manage the facility transparently and ensure fair and equitable access to its services.
Africa is losing the plant diversity that underpins food security and nutrition, climate resilience and livelihoods across the continent, according to the Third Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture which was launched early this year.
More than 70 percent of assessed wild food plant diversity in Africa is threatened, mainly due to habitat loss, land-use change and climate stress, the FAO said.
This rate of decline is double the global average.
