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Sifelani Tsiko
“Bambanani silondoloze imvelo yethu…Singathuthuka kanjani masibhidliza umganga wethu! Vusanani, bambanani silondoloze imvelo yethu,” sing members of the Vusanani co-operative group, at Natane Ward in the Molongwa area of Bulilima district about 140km south-west of Bulawayo, the country’s second largest city.

“Wozani lonke libone, buyani, buyani lonke lizobona izenzo zabomama…buyani lonke,” the group sings as it showcases how they are sustainably harnessing biodiversity as a means of income generation and improving their livelihoods.

The group in this southwestern part of the country is the epitome of success in terms of how marula tree and fruit utilisation can help to uplift local communities from poverty to improved livelihoods characterised by hope and local enterprise.

In their song, the message is clear: “Unite to conserve our biodiversity. Unite to fight deforestation and environmental degradation.”

The local community now enjoys the benefits of conserving its trees and other natural resources as they are benefitting through use.

The marula tree (known as mupfura in Shona, umganu in Ndebele (sclerocarya birrea) is an indigenous tree that is highly prized for its fruit here in Molongwa. For most people in this district it is a good source of nutrition because the fruit is high in vitamin C and contains a protein — rich nut at its core.

The marula tree is more than just a tree. A gift of marula nuts is a sign of friendship. In addition, people often gather around the large marula tree for meetings and other rituals, signifying its cultural significance.

While people appreciate the tree for its shade and beauty, it also supplies valuable food and provides a supplement to farmer incomes.

Judith Ncube, chairperson of the Vusanani Women’s Club at Natane says the marula fruit, popularly known as ‘inkelo’ in the area, is improving their lot and helping them to survive.

“Ever since we started the project in 2010, our lives have changed a lot,” she says. “Many of us are sending children to school from sales of marula products we make here at our plant.

“We are making marula jam, oil and peanut butter and when we sell, we make money to buy food, send our children to school and to buy goats and cattle.”

The group has 10 women from Natane area who harvest and process amarula to produce oil, jam and peanut butter.

The group buys a cup of marula seed for $1 and then uses an oil pressing machine to produce oil. About 10 litres of oil is produced per week which they sell to pharmacists and other customers locally, in South Africa, Botswana and the UK.

They package the marula oil in small 50ml or 100ml bottles which they sell for $3 and $6 respectively generating income for themselves.

“Marula oil is good for skincare,” says Ncube, displaying her marketing skills. “It’s quite good for moisturising, healing and revitalising your skin. We have buyers from South Africa, Botswana and the UK who like the oil. It’s the same as coconut or other traditional oils. It is good for treating ringworms, for massage and has vitamin E.”

In a good month, the group can earn up to $1 000 which they share or buy cattle for each member to widen their incomes and asset base.

“We can share about $50 each per month or more or even choose to save and buy cattle for each member in a roundtable way. We now see the value of trees and why we should not destroy them,” Ncube says.

“The project has empowered us and we are able to assist our husbands to look after our families. Widows are now able to send their children to school. It’s helping us a lot in terms of job creation and income generation.”

Support from the European Union and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) through a US$4,8 million programme launched in 2014 to assist vulnerable smallholder farmers to sustainably manage forests, diversify livelihoods sources and enhance the communities capacity to withstand shocks in times of crises has been helpful for the women.

Practical Action, an international NGO, with the support of the EU and the FAO, assisted the women to secure an oil pressing machine, training and start-up capital to run the project.

An FAO representative in Zimbabwe says forests contribute to food and income security through consumption or sale of forestry products.

“This programme advocates for food security policies that are cognisant of the ecosystems. The aim is not only to alleviate hunger in the short-term but also ensure the capacity of ecosystems to support long-term food security in the face of shocks and stresses,” David Phiri, FAO’s Sub regional Coordinator for Southern Africa, and FAO Representative in Zimbabwe, was quoted saying.

Ncube and other women in the group hope to turn their co-operative into a company by 2020.

“There is huge demand for marula products such as oil, butter, jam and wine,” she says. “We want to venture into making uMukumbi (a Marula beverage) rather than sell it as raw materials to South Africa where they make expensive Amarula beverages which they export to us.”

Lack of appropriate technology is still a challenge for them.

“Nut cracking is a demanding and labour intensive process,” says Reckson Matengarufu, a forestry project officer for Practical Action. “We need to see how we can improve on this and help the women to acquire the necessary technology to help them increase production and their earnings.

“Further research is still required to enhance nut cracking and production. South Africa has advanced in this area. A South African woman developed such a machine and is protecting her rights. South African dealers often come here in Plumtree looking for marula nuts but we want the locals to add value to their resources to get more money.”

The group is also spreading its risk. They are using their earnings to run a cattle fattening scheme.

“We have bought cattle to increase our assets,” says Ncube. “We now have 6 cattle and we have deposited for four heifers. We want each member to have one heifer and increase their livestock assets.

“It’s good not to put all your eggs in one basket.”

Zimbabwe ratified the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) in October 2002.

The treaty promotes conservation and sustainable use of plant generic resources for food and agriculture as well as for fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use.

While Zimbabwe was among the early countries to ratify the treaty, efforts to domesticate the treaty have been slowed down by the complex review process, overlapping roles of ministries, underfunding, bureaucracy and lack of urgency on the part of the Government, legal and agricultural experts say.

As the country takes time to domesticate the treaty, the country’s rich biological diversity resource base made up of 4 400 plant species comprising of about 1 500 genera (sub-family in the classification of organisms) and 200 families is being lost through biopiracy while local communities endure abject poverty.

Genetic resources experts say that the country’s genetic resources have been leaked out of the country for many years now due to lack of laws against biopiracy.

They also say that Africa could be losing more than US$15 billion from its biodiversity as medicines, cosmetics, agricultural products and indigenous knowledge surrounding these are being patented illegally by multinational companies without there being evidence of benefits accruing to local communities in countries of origin.

They say biopiracy cases are still rising as most African countries are losing huge benefits from their resources due to lack of legal protection against biopiracy.

Zimbabwe is also rich in domesticated plant resources which include cereals, industrial and horticultural crops, indigenous and exotic vegetables, roots and tubers and medicinal plants.

“Very little attention has been given towards inventorying, documentation of diversity and distribution of the country’s plant genetic resources even though there are reported to be threatened,” curator of the Genetic Resources and Biotechnology Institute (formerly the National Gene Bank of Zimbabwe) Kudzai Kusena says.

The global economic importance of genetic resources is estimated to be between US$500 billion and US$800 billion but very little trickles to local communities in countries of origin.

And, when local communities in Bulilima benefit from sustainable harvesting of marula fruits, it not only helps the poor to fight poverty and hunger but it also helps fight climate change, desertification, and deforestation.

A dollar earned from marula fruit gives them a reason not to destroy their forests. It’s conservation through use.