Oliat Mavuramba (50), a farmer from Masvingo district says decentralised seed and food festivals held under the PELUM Zimbabwe coordinated Zimbabwe Seed Sovereignty Programme (ZSSP) are protecting and promoting cultural heritage.
Oliat made these remarks during the Masvingo district food and seed festival held on 30 August 2024 next to the Great Zimbabwe ruins, one of Zimbabwe’s most important heritage sites.
“Holding the festival just next to the Great Zimbabwe ruins was a strategic move, due to the deep history, culture and tradition associated with the place. Great Zimbabwe was the cradle of Shona people in Zimbabwe and us hosting our event at this historical site helps us connect to our culture, heritage and traditions.,” says Oliat.
Oliat adds that the site is important because it is a site were national rain making rituals are done.
“The Great Zimbabwe ruins are not only significant to us but to Zimbabweans as well. This site is where our paramount chief and our spirit mediums conduct rain making rituals. These rituals are an important aspect of our culture and traditions,” says Oliat.
“Therefore, holding the festival here is more than just about reviving farmer managed seed systems but also about reviving our history, culture and tradition as Shona people. This event scales up Zimbabwe’s cultural heritage by promoting our traditional grains, culture and our indigenous foods that are being displayed by farmers,” adds Oliat.
Chief Nemamwa (44), who also participated in the Masvingo district festival says through such events, people can begin to remember our history and culture which has been eroded by modernisation.
“I am very happy about this festival because through celebrating our traditional seeds and foods, we are remembering who we are as a people and a nation. Our traditional food gives us our unique identity, it’s our cultural heritage and it had been lost due to colonisation and later, modernisation,” says Chief Nemamwa.
Chief Nemamwa encouraged Zimbabweans to return to the traditional ways of farming and living.
“I want to encourage our people to go back to our ways of farming and consuming our traditional foods like what our ancestors used to do,” adds Chief Nemamwa.
Eliphas Mugari (61), District Agricultural Technical Extension Officer says the revival of our cultural and heritage is crucial for resilience and food security.
“From time immemorial, this area used to be full of traditional grains. Our farmers have been farming traditional grains thus improving the food security in this district as evidenced by the various traditional grains that are being exhibited at this seed and food festival,” says Eliphas.
The Masvingo District Food and Seed Festival was hosted by Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers’ Forum (ZIMSOFF), a programme partner under the Zimbabwe Seed Sovereignty Programme.
