With global hunger on the rise due to climate change, it has become vital for communities the world over to adapt and have mitigation strategies to counter the effects of climate change.
Women in Shurugwi and surrounding areas have embraced communal nutrition gardens as a way of protecting the environment, having an alternative income and reducing daily food costs. Thandiwe Chigovera, 66 is one of the more active members of Mufiri Consolidated Garden in Village Mufiri under Chief Banga in Shurugwi. Mufiri Consolidated Garden comprises three villages in Shurugwi with a membership of 95 people, representing different families. They plant different crops like beetroot, spinach, peeper and other nutritious vegetables.
“We were used to planting one type of vegetable all year round, but now we are not afraid to experiment. Through these gardens we have been able to start other income generating projects like rearing Boschveld chickens which are resistant to disease. As women we have an advantage because we now have our own disposable income and don’t have to depend on our husbands for everything,” she said. Besides the gardens allowing them to complement their diets, its also a place where women can come together and have discussions on different matters that affect them. Its a place where they are able to be free and discover other passions.
According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), improved agricultural livelihoods are key to lasting empowerment, agricultural transformation, improved nutrition, and large scale positive change. Food security, climate change and malnutrition can no longer be addressed independently of one another if there is any hope of achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), SDG 2 on ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition.
Anna Brazier, a Sustainable Development Consultant said that in order to achieve SDG2 there is need to rethink agriculture and environmental management. “We need to opt for a more sustainable long term solution for improving the soil. This can include intercropping with legumes and forestry methods for field crops and for garden crops we look at more organic techniques. We need to improve the soil and we don’t do this by pouring fertilisers on the soil because this is not a long term solution. Fertilisers require a huge amount of fossil fuel to make them and they emit greenhouse gases. We also need to think about pest management because pests are going to become more of a problem because of global warming,” she said.
She added that farmers need to protect the resource base from which food production depends and at the moment that is not being done. “We are polluting the soil and water with chemicals used for agriculture and we are not growing a wide range of food crops. We are mainly devoted to cash crops or livestock feed. Zimbabwe needs to move from cotton and tobacco production because we are using precious resources to produce yet the prices internationally are so poor that farmers are actually becoming impoverished. Having grown cash crops rather than food crops they end up with no food. So we need to be rethinking our whole agricultural policies and focus on food production using the resources that we have sustainably,” she said.
According to statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) various forms of malnutrition coexist because of climate change related causes. Two billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, 815 million are in a state of caloric deficit and nearly one in four children suffers from chronic malnutrition. The world is on a drive to end hunger as envisioned by SDG2. It has become imperative to embrace alternative strategies of agriculture so that communities don’t depend on rain fed agriculture.
Women in Communities (WICO) Director, Rebecca Tendai Chirenga works with women in different communities in the country to equip them to improve their livelihoods. She said that it is important for women to become climate-smart and nutrition smart. “Climate change is affecting women a lot because they are the ones working the fields and they have to reap the little that they get there because of floods and droughts. We have introduced market or community gardens which these women now focus on. When fields are dry or flooding they can still concentrate on their gardens. They are able to produce enough for their families’ consumption and also make money,” she said.
Kurai Madzimure, 54 also of Mufiri Village says that the nutrition garden has been her greatest source of income since 1999. “These gardens have transformed our lives as women in the village. We share what we harvest then sell the produce at market points we have established. We have also set up savings clubs using money from these gardens. When we pool the money together we are then able to buy livestock or cater for other needs,” she said.
Most rural communities depend on food aid to supplement their diet. They usually plant cash crops like maize or tobacco and over the years these have not been earning them much. Mainly because of floods or droughts and farmers don’t have enough to feed their families. Some of the vegies that is being grown at the communal gardens was considered as elite for example broccoli but they now grow and sell. The women also use organic farming methods and use fertilisers or other chemicals which are not good for the environment.
Janet Makombe, District Coordinator of Self Help Development Foundation (SHDF) who works with women in Shurugwi says that they have tried to encourage holistic land and livestock management. “Women now know the best farming practices to use to combat the effects of climate change. The nutrition gardens provide a platform where we have seen an increased participation by women and women are able to feed their families with nutritious food without incurring additional costs. We also encourage re-planting trees especially in Shurugwi where most tress have been cut down due to gold panning,” she said.
This story is part of the Social Impact Reporting Initiative (SIRI) project.