232 Community Food Security
Recovering lost seeds to resist drought
In Zimbabwe, farmers once
planted many kinds of grains.
During the Green Revolution
of the 1960s, the government
and international agencies
brought a new kind of maize
for farmers to plant. Farmers
liked the hybrid maize because
it had large grains, grew
quickly, and was easy
to sell. The government
bought much of their
crop, and then resold it to
other countries and to cities in Zimbabwe
where food was scarce. Over time, maize became the most
common food to eat in Zimbabwe, and most farmers grew it in large quantities.
Then came years of drought. Very little rain fell over the fields of Zimbabwe
and other countries in southern Africa. The maize grew poorly, and there was
little else to eat. Many families had stored grains for times of hunger, but much
of their stores of maize had rotted. This was a surprise, because the millet and
sorghum they used to grow had lasted many seasons in storage.
When the rains finally started, they came in huge storms that uprooted
crops and washed away precious soil from the dry fields. Hunger grew so
severe in Zimbabwe that the government was forced to ask for food aid from
the United Nations. Large shipments of maize came in by airplane and were
handed out to hungry people across the country. But food aid and the new
hybrid seeds could not solve the long term problem of hunger and food security.
The farmers realized they could not bring more rain, but they could change
how they farmed to make better use of the rain. Farmers began to collect and
plant seeds from small grain crops such as sorghum and millet that had always
grown well in Zimbabwe. Farmers planted every kind of seed they could get. If
drought destroyed one crop, others would surely survive. Some farmers left their
crop stubble to rot in the field after harvest, protecting their soil from washing
away during the hard rains. The next season, their soil was still soft and good
for planting. Some farmers planted lab lab beans after the grain harvest so
something was always growing. They could feed these beans to livestock, and
the bean plants also helped to hold and enrich the soil.
It still rains less in Zimbabwe than it once did. But some farmers there no
longer rely on non-native seeds or international food aid, and have become
better able to prevent hunger, by growing crops that can survive the drought.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012