Chikukwa Project
Communal Village Regeneration Project – Zimbabwe, Africa
For the last 20 years, villagers in this area have taken their lives and futures into their own hands with the permaculture-informed restoration of watersheds, farmland and culture. Where once the people of the Chikukwa villages suffered hunger, malnutrition and high rates of disease, this community has turned its fortunes around using permaculture farming techniques. Now they have a surplus of food and the people in these villages are healthy and proud of their achievements. Their degraded landscape has been turned into a lush paradise. Complementing these strategies for food security, they have built their community strength through locally controlled and initiated programs for permaculture training, conflict resolution, women’s empowerment, primary education and HIV management.
Avoiding contentious issues, an alternative way to look at the district where the project is situated, is to point out that it is an “edge” location in the terms of permaculture theory. Chikukwa is such an edge in a number of ways. It is in the foothills on the edge of a mountainous region that borders a national park, a pine plantation and the country of Mozambique. It is home to the Chikukwa clan which has lived in this part of the world for centuries The collapse of the Zimbabwe economy with massive inflation in 2005 and the economic problems leading up to that drove many to re-evaluate their rural roots and to put energy into community based agriculture, as the broader commercial economy was not an option. In economic terms, Chikukwa ended up being on the edge of the global economy. This can be seen as a crisis which drove experimentation and a situation, far from the centres of power, which allowed an experimental solution to be developed. In consequence, the model developed in this edge region of the world could well become a key to the relief of poverty in Africa.
Another theoretical perspective on the Chikukwa project can be gained by considering “Southern Theory” as proposed by Raewyn Connell (2007). Southern Theory asserts the necessity and validity of the peoples of the global South linking their experiences and developing some independent theoretical tools to shape their vision – tools which may make some use of what has been developed in the global North but do not require us to see everything from that Northern perspective. When so much that is said about Africa portrays African villagers as inevitable victims this story celebrates their strength, their hard work and their capability.
Permaculture actually solves all the problems that we face in human life. So this is considered to be the right approach for us to live – if you want to save the earth. – J Piti
Film Trailer: https://vimeo.com/74118407
Websites:
1) https://permaculturevisions.com/the-chikukwa-project/
2) https://www.permaculturenews.org/2013/08/15/the-chikukwa-permaculture-project-zimbabwe-the-full-story/
