On 5 September 2024, EarthLore gathers together farmers, friends and family, traditional leaders, government officials, partners, the media, supporters and allies, for the Bikita Seed and Food Fair, where our theme this year is Celebrating the Resilience of Traditional Seeds. The event will be hosted by Chirambaguyo Garden in the Mutsinzwa community.
In many Southern African cultures, September is the start of the new year. It is a time when nature undergoes renewal with trees and flowers blooming and animals giving birth. It also marks the beginning of the rainy season and the time for planting spring and summer crops.
September is the time of year when the farming communities that EarthLore accompanies in Zimbabwe and South Africa start organising Seed and Food Fairs to celebrate and showcase the wide variety of traditional seeds that they are reviving, as well as an impressive diversity of produce from their home and community gardens and fields, and fruits, foods and medicinal plants harvested from the wild. In some Native languages, the term for plants translates to “those who take care of us” [Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer]. This is much in evidence when we survey the abundance of produce displayed by the farmers.
Bringing back traditional seeds connects us to the land. Traditional seeds are robust and resilient. They are well adapted to the climate and able to survive periods of drought and excessive rain. The revival of traditional seeds has led to the revival of tasty, nutritious traditional foods. The revival of finger millet has inspired communities to bring back important rituals and ceremonies and to remember forgotten Sacred Natural Sites.
Method Gundidza, Director of EarthLore who manages programmes commented that: “Since the first Bikita Seed and Food Fair was held in August 2017, we have witnessed a transition from hunger and helplessness to increasing health, wealth and happiness as traditional seeds contribute to reweaving the basket of life that sustains thriving communities. We are also witnessing how rural farming communities help heal the land and bring rain.”
These rural farming communities who, through regular community dialogues, are bringing back and multiplying lost traditional seeds and the knowledge around seed, are also remembering their culture and traditions. They are mending broken relationships with the land, the people and the ancestors and reviving community governance systems which in turn enables them to turn to the ancestors for wisdom, guidance and support to restore their ancestral lifeways and lands.
A warm welcome is assured for everyone who is able to join us for this joyful event.
