PELUM-Zimbabwe And Partners Complement Govt Efforts In Traditional Grains Production

By Wallace Mawire

PELUM Zimbabwe, a network comprising of dynamic civil society organisations and individuals working in Zimbabwe to promote agroecological practices that are socially acceptable, ecologically sound and economically viable is working with its partners throughout the country to complement government efforts to strengthen production and consumption of traditional grains, as well as promoting sustainable and resilient agriculture in line with national development.

PELUM Zimbabwe is conducting the activities in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Seed Sovereignty Programme partners.The Zimbabwe Seed Sovereignty Programme (ZSSP) is an initiative being implemented in seven districts with the goal of increasing the resilience of small-scale farmers through seed sovereignty and Agroecology.

To this end the ZSSP hosts an annual National  Seed Festival as part of the Annual two-day Good Food and Seed Festival, whose goal is to promote the growing and consumption of safe, healthy, and nutritious traditional Zimbabwean food.

PELUM Zimbabwe on behalf of the Zimbabwe Seed Sovereignty Programme is  inviting farmers, government line ministries, members of the public, the media, civil society organisations, private sector and all other interested persons and organisations to come and join them they celebrate their  very own Zimbabwean seeds and food, and drive towards seed and food sovereignty.

Curtains open for the 2023 Zimbabwe National Seed Festival to be held under the theme: “Celebrating the wonder of Zimbabwean Millets.”The Zimbabwe Seed Sovereignty Programme (ZSSP) has announced the 2023 National Seed Festival, an annual national event that promotes and celebrates food and seed sovereignty in Zimbabwe.

The National Seed Festival will be held on Friday 29 September 2023 at the Harare Botanical Gardens and will be graced by multi-stakeholders which include small-scale farmers and seed custodians, government ministries and departments, civil society organisations, private sector, media, and the general public.

According to PELUM-Zimbabwe,the event is open for all  who want to attend and will comprise of various traditional dances from different parts of Zimbabwe, mbira, drama, dialogue on seed and food issues as well as the sharing, exchange and trade of farmer managed seeds.

The organization also revealed that on the same day, there will be a roadshow that will visit major bus terminuses in Harare including Mbare, Fourth Street and Market Square bus terminuses, raising awareness on and promoting the consumption of traditional foods.

“Every year we focus on celebrating a particular traditional food and this year our focus will be on millets as we join the rest of the world in celebrating 2023 as the international year of millets. Our theme as the Zimbabwe Seed Sovereignty Programme (ZSSP) this year is “Celebrating the wonder of Zimbabwean Millets, “in particular we are promoting Barnyard Millet , locally known as Svoboda which was popular in some parts of Masvingo province. Barnyard Millet had become a lost variety which was rediscovered during a baseline survey done by one of the partners of the ZSSP, Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers' Forum (ZIMSOFF) in Bikita.

Svoboda is a classic example of forgotten and underutilized crops which are hotspots of nutrition and resilience, “says Theophilus Mudzindiko, the Programmes Coordinator for the Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Zimbabwe which is coordinating the Zimbabwe Seed Sovereignty Programme (ZSSP).