Years ago, the Sianyanga Communal Lands situated on 20,000 acres in Hwange, was characterised by sandy soil, leached of all nutrients by decades of uninterrupted grazing and cultivation.
The land was also infested with biting ants, called Inyebe in the local Tonga language. According to villagers, these insects bit people, animals and even snakes. As a result, people were forced to wear shoes or cover their feet with plastic paper if they did not have shoes. There was no known remedy for ridding the area of these nasty insects.
Then in 2006, the Africa Centre for Holistic Management (ACHM) came to the area and introduced the community to Holistic Management, a simple but efficient concept of making money from their environment while at the same time preserving it.
Several facilitators were trained at the local Dingangombe College of Wildlife, Agriculture and Conservation Management. “We trained numerous village-based facilitators. In turn, they trained the community in holistic management,” said Huggins Matanga, ACHM executive director.
Savory method
The holistic management concept was developed by Allan Savory, a Zimbabwean-born ecologist, following lengthy personal research into land deterioration and human impoverishment in Africa.
Lives of those in the community changed drastically. ”I was among the first people to receive training in Holistic Management. We now have a bumper harvest with a surplus to sell. This has changed our lives and continues to do so nine years later. It didn’t happen over-night, but we can now sleep soundly because the future of our children is assured,” said Balbina Nyoni, chairperson of the grazing committee.
Through perma-culture in homestead gardens, overall garden planning, compost worm farming and liquid manure techniques, productive gardens are mushrooming and nutritious produce is feeding more people.
About 10 villages in the area have now received training. “Animals are an important component in the restoration of the environment because they trample the grass and thereby expose the base of plants. This enables regrowth at the onset of the next rainy season. Livestock also break down the soil crust enabling air and water to penetrate so that more grass can grow,” explained Matanga.
Planned grazing
Under the landscape reclamation programme, the villagers combine small herds of their livestock and plan their grazing. By mimicking herds of wild animals and keeping stock moving, villagers minimise overgrazing and increase plant growth.
Due to this practice that improves soil aeration, water penetration and seed germination, most rivers in the area that had stopped flowing, now flow again. Best of all is that the community's predator-friendly approach to livestock production has created a habitat conducive to encouraging wildlife to return and to flourish.
In the past the community had challenges with water and grazing. Boreholes were drying up, the land was degraded, there was no grass for livestock and crop yields were declining. The earth surface was dry and crusted and when it did rain there was water run-off that silted up the Nalomwe river. The community had to graze their livestock 15 km away at the Gwayi river where they camped for most of the dry season.
Positive results
Now positive results have been registered in the area after just a few years of applying the grazing concept.
“Cattle no longer need to go to the Gwayi River. Now in 2015 there is hardly a bare piece of ground where we have not implemented the practice of Holistic Management. It is now a vast land of lush trees and grass. Sedge grass is once again growing in our river and we are now able to get thatching grass in our village instead of having to go to the Ngome River like before,” said Samson Phiri.
Empowering communities to improve their lives and the lives of future generations by restoring their land and natural water sources requires addressing the root cause of land degradation as demonstrated by the Sianyanga, Sizinda and Monde communities land restoration projects.
The ACHM has provided training for women in micro-leading and micro-enterprise development and also capitalises women’s micro-banks. What is unique about these village banks is that they are linked to training in holistic management so that decisions taken by the participants yield positive results for the women, their families, the land and wildlife.
The Hwange community plays an important role in the ACHM governance through representation on the Board of Trustees, which includes among its members local chiefs.
Desertification or land degradation has destroyed many civilisations and continues to be a global threat.
Post published in: News