Photo – Conrad Mwanawashe
By Conrad Mwanawashe
SILVEIRA House, the Jesuit Centre for Social Justice and Development, has lent its support towards the process of reviewing Zimbabwe’s Draft Agroecology Promotion Policy and Strategy which seeks to promote sustainable production through agroecology, Maricho Media has learnt.
The review process was announced by Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister, Davis Marapira, at the just ended Biennial Food Systems Conference organized by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA).
The conference coincided with the 2024 edition of the National Good Seed and Food Festival, African Agroecological Entrepreneurs and Territorial Markets Convening.
In his remarks, Deputy Minister Marapira said the review process will include engagements with farmers, policymakers, researchers, and communities to create equitable food systems that support health, well-being, and economic vitality.
“From a Policy perspective my Ministry is reviewing the Draft Agroecology Promotion Policy and Strategy which seeks to promote sustainable production through Agroecology. I am reliably informed that some organisations here present such as Fambidzanai, PELUM, Action Aid, VSO, ZILAN, and ADRA played an instrumental role in supporting my Ministry in the development of this Policy. I thank you for your support. It is partnerships like these that will go transform food systems in Zimbabwe,” said Deputy Minister Marapira.
The Agroecology Promotion Policy and Strategy seeks to align food systems to SDG target 2.3 – by 2030 double the agricultural productivity and the incomes of small-scale food producers, particularly women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment.
Watch: A trip to Mbare Farmers’ market – https://youtu.be/fxREOxl8FxM?si=oqsp9oss0RJ7ph3Z
Dave Bote, Project Officer at Silveria House, said African traditional food and its heritage must be given prominence, both in policy circles and by the consumers, reinforcing food sovereignty and climate justice.
“Silveira House joins other continental organizations in pushing for and demanding national and multinational governments to put in place pro-agroecology policies,” said Bote.
Silveira House, owned and run by Jesuits Southern Africa, is currently promoting agroecology as a way of capacitating farmers to become conversant with food systems in a bid to extricate them from “hybrid seed colonialism”, through a project, code named Citizen Agency for Transformed Food Systems in Zimbabwe.
The project is being implemented mainly in Mutoko and Mudzi districts, where farmers were previously trained on agroecological principles, both by government and by other donor partners who also involved Silvera House.
He said the project is aimed at amplifying the voice of the farmer to influence the current policy architecture.
“We felt that the entire system is lacking the voice of the actual farmer, so we are trying to capacitate them so that the voice of the farmer is listened to by policy actors and by key institutions. “As an organization we stress the importance of centering smallholder farmers and agroecology entrepreneurship in the continent’s policy framework. All regional economic bodies that include SADC, ECOWAS, COMESA, and EAC to have agroecology regional policy and strategy framework,” said Bote.
Agroecology is gaining momentum as a scientific discipline, sustainable farming approach and social movement across the globe.
