The ManicaPost
Blessing Rwizi Post Correspondent
CHIMANIMANI-BASED TSURO Trust is spearheading the revitalisation of traditional methods of small grains and other indigenous crop preservation to enhance food security.
TSURO Trust programme officer, Mrs Roseline Mukonoweshuro, called for the establishment of community seed banks as they offer a chance to conserve genetic diversity at the level of local farmers.
Community seed banks are places where seeds are stored, usually after a good harvest.
At a community seed bank, farmers set up sustainable and multipliable open-source systems to share and store seeds, using traditional knowledge along with new concepts and technology.
When farmers grow plants in a season, they can return back the seed plus an interest (in seed form) to help grow seed stocks in the community bank.
Ten representatives from different seed production and saving farmers groups around Chimanimani last week toured wards 20 and 21 of Bikita District where the traditional or indigenous seed banking system is now at an advanced stage of implementation.
The interprovincial exchange visit was organised by TSURO Trust, implementing the Zimbabwe Seed Sovereignty Programme (ZSSP). ZSSP supports the production and exchange of seed and knowledge on Open-Pollinated Varieties (OPV) and traditional seeds, hence promoting seed sovereignty.
Bikita District was perennially plagued by food shortages caused by low rains, hence farmers in the area rely most on traditional small grains like millet, rapoko and sorghum over the past years.
“Community based seed systems are very critical in the face of climate change because the seeds that communities save are seeds that are adapted to that particular environment. We encourage farmers to build community seed banks since they are a platform for saving and promoting the exchange of neglected grains.
“Seed banks play a significant role in securing the survival of plant species by removing collections of seeds and securing them in safe havens for long-term storage. They provide the insurance opportunity for species lost in the wild to be reintroduced. It is also of paramount importance to select the best types of seeds and keep them uniform,” said Mrs Mukonoweshuro.
“Crop diseases are also highly contagious and very deadly to plants. A serious breakout could completely eliminate crops and in such cases that diseases ravaged crops and leave no traces that farmers could start on, seed banks can intervene and provide them with seeds that will enable them start on a clean slate. This is one of the advantages of community seed banking,” she added.
Mrs Tendai Marijeki of Zimunda Village in Chimanimani, hailed the idea of the revitalisation of traditional methods of small grains and other indigenous crop preservation.
“Most farmers were doing away with traditional methods of small grains and other indigenous crop preservation. We have realised that getting back to these old systems can be a solution since maize has not been doing quite well in Chimanimani and other parts of Manicaland due to low rainfall. We also hope that the nutritional value in these traditional foods will benefit the entire communities,” said Mrs Marijeki.
