Small-scale farmers working with PELUM Zimbabwe member, Igugu Trust in Hwange district are realising environmental transformation and food self-sufficiency after adopting Holistic Land and Livestock Management (HLLM) practices.
Mbuso Nyathi (58), from Ndhlovu Village is one of these farmers and says HLLM came at an opportune time when the Ndhlovu community was in a sorry state.
“Before we began holistic and planned grazing, our community did not have adequate pastures for our livestock. We also faced soil infertility which led to food insecurity as our crops failed each season,” he says.
Mbuso adds that after HLLM was adopted, these problems started to disappear.
“After adopting HLLM, most of these problems relating to soil infertility and depleted pastures started to become less and less,” says Mbuso.
The adoption of HLLM addressed the challenges that the community was facing in food production and environmental sustainability but it also helped the community to begin to work together to deal with other social issues.
“After Igugu Trust introduced us to holistic and planned grazing, our yield improved and our rangelands have more ground cover. Crop field impaction has helped improve the quality of our soil. Our crops fields are now more productive than ever,” says Rita Kanyemba (50) one of the farmers from Ndhlovu Village
“Before adopting planned grazing, community members rarely herded cattle collectively. Now our pastures have improved and our livestock are becoming more and more manageable,” she adds.
Gift Maodzeka (23), the Community Liaison Officer for Igugu Trust in Hwange District says the Ndhlovu community has indeed reaped many benefits from adopting HLLM practices.
“We have been working with communities in Hwange district since 2019. There has been increased productivity in the fields. Food security in the communities has improved because of increased soil fertility and soil water retention as a result of animal action on the rangelands. We are also witnessing less human-wildlife conflicts as holistic management is improving daily,” says Gift.
Mbuso says due to the nature of HLLM in bringing together the whole community, building resilience has been easier because the whole community is working together.
“Working together as a community has helped our community build resilience. We are collaborating and impacting fields through this programme and this is helping our community develop,” says Mbuso.
