Agriculture’s Climate Hero
In a world vulnerable to climate change, Julliet Hove, a seasoned seed custodian from Murowa Ward 18 under Chief Mazvihwa, is inspiring her community through tireless dedication to sustainable agriculture. As a Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic farmer’s Forum (ZIMSOFF) member, Hove promotes traditional grain preservation using timeless methods, empowering women to control their food security through seed preservation and small grain cultivation. Her expertise has transcended borders, sharing knowledge with farmers in four countries such as Zambia, Mozambique, Spain and Tanzania through ZIMSOFF’s farmer-to-farmer exchange programs, enabling family farmers to engage policymakers and advocate for their livelihoods.
As a champion of sustainable agriculture, Hove highlights the value of traditional grain preservation techniques, utilizing native trees to safeguard against pests and ensure long-term storage.
“Indigenous trees and shrubs are vital for grain preservation.Leaves from specific trees repel insects, while poles from mukute (Syzygium cordotum) and munguraurwe (tonic roots) trees are ideal for constructing traditional granaries (tsapi), preventing termite damage.
“To prepare the tsapi, we mix mud, cow dung or goat droppings, and ash. This natural blend prevents weevils, aphids, and rodents from infesting stored grains. Furthermore, crushed zumbani leaves are added to packaged grains for extra protection”.
“We also use ashes from non-poisonous sources like maize cobs, leaves, or wood to preserve grains. This method provides 6-12 months of protection and can be replenished as needed.”
Hove noted, “For optimal maize seed preservation, smoking high-quality seeds, wrapping them in mango leaves, and storing them in a granary provides protection due to the soot they retain.”
Combatting climate change through sustainable agriculture, Hove encourages women to cultivate climate-resilient grains such as sorghum, millet, and rapoko in addition to maize, ensuring food security and community resilience.
“Small grains are long-lasting seeds. Our forefathers cultivated these crops for drought-tolerant and resistant crops to ensure food security. These crops thrive in areas with minimal rainfall, mature quickly and do not require chemical fertilizers or pesticides”.
She added,”Small grains are nutrient-dense and high in fibre providing significant health advantages.They lower the risk of heart disease and stroke, diabetes and obesity, and decrease chronic inflammation,Hove notes”.
However, Hove acknowledges the challenges she faced in cultivating small grains, particularly quelea weaver birds and labor-intensive processing of grains.
“Sorghum and millet cultivation requires intense labor, largely because of the devastating impact of quelea birds. To mitigate this threat, we conduct daily field patrols from 6 am to 6 pm between March and May, utilizing whips, mud stones, and smoke from burning moist leaves to repel the birds”.
“The processing of sorghum and millet relies heavily on traditional, labor-intensive methods due to the lack of specialized machinery. The process involves several manual steps such as harvesting, separating grains from sheaths, pounding to remove hard shells, sieving to eliminate sand and sediments, roasting and grinding into a fine powder. Any mistake in this intricate process results in a grainy substandard mealie meal,she said”.
Member of Parliament for Zvishavane-Runde Constituency, Freddy Gandiwa Moyo, recently made a pivotal commitment to Zimsoff members at the Mazvihwa Arts, Culture, Sports and Edutainment Festival.”I pledge to provide Zimsoff members with small grains, including rapoko, millet, and sorghum, to bolster food security. I urge you all to revisit your ancestral roots and cultivate these traditional grains, which were staple foods for our forefathers,” he emphasized.
Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmer’s Forum (ZIMSOFF),Chairman Delma Ndlovu was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
The Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers Forum (ZIMSOFF) is a member of the East and Southern Africa Small-scale Farmers’ Forum (ESAFF) and La Via Campesina (LVC) that envisions improved livelihoods of organized and empowered smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe practicing sustainable and viable ecological agriculture. Its mission statement is to influence policies and public awareness towards agroecology and smallholder farmers’ rights struggles for farmer managed seed systems. The organization is the voice of the marginalized smallholder farmers that enhances their meaningful participation in ecological and sustainable agricultural policy making processes and practices in view to uplifting livelihoods. Recognizing the role being played by rural women in agricultural activities that is to feed their families and the nation, ZIMSOFF is bridging the gap through farmer to farmer learning and exchanges towards building the capacities of family farmers so that they are able to engage policymakers and decision making processes on issues affecting their livelihoods.
