Jeffrey Gogo Climate Story
THE sandy soils of Tandi village in Makoni District, Rusape are tired from over use of chemicals and fertilisers, ostensibly designed to improve yields.
Following decades of bleaching, soil fertility and food production have declined, causing lives to become difficult for the agriculture-dependent villagers, whose main food crop is maize, but tobacco is widely grown.
Climate change and variability have created new risks to agriculture production including recurrent droughts, pests and possibility of flooding.
The Makoni Organic Farmers Association (Mofa) – a coalition of nearly 400 communal farmers from Tandi – is leading an exemplary community-led response to the climate challenge.
By engaging in organic farming – techniques in agriculture and livestock production that thrive on natural sources – the farmers are helping to ease poverty, build resilience, strengthen women empowerment and improve environmental sustainability.
For that model climate work, Mofa has been awarded the prestigious Equator Prize 2014 by the United Nations Development Programme, along with 34 other winners from across the world.
The Equator Prize celebrates outstanding local grassroot efforts to “reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems”.
Nearly 190 communities from 70 countries have received the prize since its launch in 2002.
The UNDP said this year’s winners were selected from a record 1 234 nominations from 121 countries following “an extensive technical review process guided by international experts” that took many months to complete.
“These are leading local examples of innovation and achievement that can change the world for the better,” said UNDP Administrator Helen Clark.
“They are not waiting for others to act. They are on the frontlines of sustainability issues and showing what is possible when grassroots ingenuity meets the defining challenges of our time – ending poverty, protecting our planet, and responding to climate change.”
Twenty-five awards will be presented on September 22 in New York, as a kick-off to the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit.
Winners receive a monetary prize and join a network of 152 local best practices in conservation and development.
A further 12 winners will be recognised for their work on sustainable land management in sub-Saharan Africa at an award ceremony on World Day to Combat Desertification in Nairobi, Kenya tomorrow, through a project funded by the Global Environment Facility.
Changing lives
By involving women in leadership, Mofa is helping change a lot of livelihoods for the poor communal Tandi farmers.
In April, 224 farmers were organically certified, most of them women, helping them to secure guaranteed markets and gain a contract with VegFlora, a local exporter of organic produce.
Of the 112 farmers engaged in organic horticulture on 9,4 hectares of land divided into seven gardens, 81 percent are women.
Sifelani Zvigerenani, the association’s chairperson, is a woman.
To date, the farmers have exported 780kg of peas to European markets, earning $936, said Mr Edwin Mazhawidza, manager of the project, which began in 2009 through a $50 000 grant from the Global Environment Facility.
This was the farmers’ first export, but only from produce of June-August 2013.
Much of the time since commencement has gone into training and capacity building.
Produce during this “conversion period” was consumed by local markets or in the farmers’ own households.
Farmers received intensive training on organic farming standards and techniques, integrated pest control management, ethno veterinary techniques, bee keeping, organic mushroom production, apiculture and participatory guarantee systems
“Introduction of diversified income generating activities that include, organic horticulture, apiculture, indigenous chicken production as well as mushroom production has strengthened the local women’s food and income security,” said Mr Mazhawidza.
“ . . . there is equal representation of men and women on the association leadership and is a positive step towards emancipation of women.”
Women are generally considered to be the heart of a solid home, providing food, moral and life skills to the children, including those of sustainable management of the environment.
Improved adaptation
Mofa is not only elevating women’s participation in sustainable agriculture. Organic farming does much more, restoring damaged ecosystems and strengthening community climate change adaptation.
In other spheres, organic farming can be called farming God’s way, said agri-business development expert, Mr Midway Bhunu.
This is because organic steers away from conventional farming methods that utilise synthetic fertilisers and chemicals, which tend to damage soils and limit yields in the long run.
“Organic farming is natural farming. No use of inorganic fertilisers, only manure and other natural or biological soil fertility management techniques,” said Mr Bhunu.
In Makoni, the farmers are doing exactly that. Each member from the established organic gardens has a liquid manure tank and compost for soil fertility enhancement.
Natural pest control management is practiced, encouraging farmers to use biological and natural means in pests and disease control, helping the gradual elimination of chemical use.
“Organic farming protects and enhances the environment and natural resources such as soil fertility thereby increasing yield per a limited area,” Mazhawidza said.
“The initiative increased the community’s awareness of environmental, socio-economic and health benefits of organic practices and organic food diets and dietary diversity.
“Growing crops using low cost local inputs with minimum external inputs while attaining yield of high nutrition produce was an essential tool for the community to be resilient and adapt to external pressures for food and nutrition security.”
Activities in organic apiculture, aquaculture and mushroom production have helped enhance food security, increase biodiversity and complement other agricultural activities that degrade the environment.
The Makoni farmers have also been working together with University of Zimbabwe students in conducting researches on pesticidal plants use as alternatives to synthetic chemical pesticides.
Mofa is a true example of a community-led response to climate change that is yielding positive results for those people always first in the line of fire when climate impacts strike.
This model ought to be replicated in those communities most at risk of climate change because top down approaches are failing or do not exist at all.
God is faithful.
Feedback: jeffgogo@gmail.com