Who could have imagined that a seed smaller than mustard would contribute to the revival of important rituals and ceremonies that have been dormant for a total of over 200 years!
When Finger millet, or Rukweza in Shona, was revived with other millets as a staple crop in Bikita, Zimbabwe, in 2014, it opened the way to perform almost forgotten rituals linked to the agricultural calendar. This journey of revival has been long and challenging but the seeds that have been planted have germinated and are yielding abundant harvests.
Demonisation of Rituals and Promotion of hybrid maize
When the church labeled traditional rituals and ceremonies evil and demonic, it created suspicion, fear and division, resulting in traditional spiritual leaders and Sacred Natural Site custodians no longer performing these rituals. This was happening in the 1950s and 60s. It was over this same period that many robust traditional seeds were lost, when hybrid maize and chemical inputs were aggressively marketed. Hybrid maize was heralded as a science-driven advance in agricultural productivity and pushed by governments and agricultural extension officers as the miracle staple for southern Africa.
Rural farmers were instructed to abandon and destroy their traditional seeds that were disparagingly referred to as ‘gogo’s seeds’, your grandmother’s seeds. This attitude showed no understanding that traditional seeds, like the millets, ‘belong’ in a place after having become adapted to the climate, soils and environment over hundreds of years. Even with challenges of climate change, these seeds are proving to be robust, resilient and able to survive droughts and floods.
In marked contrast, hybrid seeds and GMOs cannot cope with intensifying climate shocks and farmers who are relying on these seeds go hungry when their crops fail year after year.
Mupo changes to EarthLore 10 years ago
An important celebration in 2024 was that 10 years ago, EarthLore made the decision to expand its work beyond Venda, where it had been working, as the Mupo Foundation, since 2007. “Mupo” in Venda means all of creation. Changing the localised name to EarthLore Foundation coincided with the expansion of the work into Mpumalanga and Zimbabwe in 2015 and reflects the spreading and deepening of the work and a commitment to an Earth-centred approach guided by the lores and laws of Nature, known as Earth Jurisprudence.
Method Gundidza, EarthLore’s lead custodian, reminds us that:
“EarthLore’s work is long term and not a quick fix. One must have patience and continue with the work by holding regular community dialogues and wait and track and trust that the right things will emerge.”
These are some of the unexpected things that have emerged over the past 10 years:
Revival of Millets in Bikita communities
In 2014, a few individual Bikita farmers grew millet with varying success, while hybrid maize crops predictability failed. In 2015, several Bikita communities made the decision to revive millet as their staple, and stop planting maize. This marked a turning point in the fortunes of these farmers and their communities and sparked a growing interest in reviving forgotten and lost traditional seeds, a trend that is becoming a movement across Africa.
Svoboda or Barnyard millet is revived
Svoboda succesfully growing in Enkaba, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Barnyard millet, locally known as svoboda, had last been planted in Bikita about 40 years ago. Imagine the disbelief and delight when Baba and Mai Mukondo, an elderly Bikita couple, produced a small plastic packet of svoboda seeds that they had hidden in their home until they felt it was safe to share their treasure with other farmers after they had gone back to planting millet. After 40 years of dormancy, svoboda made a sensational comeback. It has been propagated and shared widely and at the 2023 Good Food Festival in Harare, it was the seed on everyone’s lips. [Click this link to view the film Pelum-Zimbabwe specially made about Svoboda for the event.] It also appeared unexpectedly in Enkaba, Mpumalanga, South Africa, when a farmer successfully propagated a field of an unfamiliar crop that turned out to be svoboda.
EarthLore stall at Harare Good Food and Seed Festival 2024
Revival of sacred Finger millet opens the way for reviving important forgotten rituals
Elders and spiritual leaders in Bikita were aware that reviving millet and other traditional seeds was not sufficient to deal with the increasing challenges and hardships that the communities were facing after relinquishing their traditional seeds and farming practices, their culture, rituals, ceremonies, governance systems and Sacred Natural Sites. Where would the much-needed rain come from to water these crops? Wise elders spoke about the importance of deep respect for the landscape and the web of life that had been forgotten. Respect for all of creation and the ancestors forms the foundation of the rain rituals and other important ceremonies essential for the well-being of the people and the land. Respect and associated values need to be revived and strengthened. Finger millet, a sacred seed used to brew Mpambo, the special beer prepared by custodians when rituals are performed, made it possible for important rituals to be revived.
2024 A flood of rituals
A flood of rituals took place in 2024 when all the communities EarthLore accompanies in Zimbabwe and South Africa decided to revive rituals associated with the agricultural calendar to show respect, appreciation and gratitude to the ancestors. These included rituals giving thanks for first fruits, rituals to ask for rain, rituals to honour the sacred Marula tree, and a spiritual cleansing ritual after cleaning the sacred Eskubeni river that flows past Steenbok in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Some communities held rituals to celebrate their Sacred Natural Sites.
- The Uluma or first fruits ritual was performed for the first time ever in Tshiavha, Venda. According to the Tshiavha leaders and elders, several of whom are in their nineties, the ceremony has never been performed in the community.
- Three rituals were revived after 40 years. There were two Mukwerera rituals in Bikita, Zimbabwe, to call for rain: one in Mutsinzwa and the other in Chirorwe. There was also a Suko seed blessing ritual held in Mazwimba, Venda, South Africa.
- Two rituals were revived after 24 or more years in Mpumalanga, South Africa. There was the Ihhula ritual to honour the sacred Marula tree, in Steenbok. And, in Julius Mkhonto, the combined Ukwetfula and Ihhula rituals were celebrated after last being held in 2000.
While it is difficult to assess the importance and impact of the revival of these rituals, Mashudu Takalani, Programme Facilitator for South Africa, states clearly that “EarthLore’s accompaniment of rural farming communities committed to reviving their traditional seeds and practices, their culture, traditions and rituals, is changing people’s lives by reweaving the basket of life and healing the broader landscape. There is a growing sense of social cohesion as seed and food sovereignty is being restored and people come together through traditional practices such as Jangano and Lilima to share work in the fields and celebrate with traditional, home grown food and brewed beer.”
All this, because of the little Finger millet seed……..and waiting and tracking and trusting that the right things will emerge.
