Fidèle à sa tradition d’exploration des principales questions émergentes, Nature & Faune a choisi de consacrer cette édition à l’examen de cette urbanisation rapide et de ses conséquences pour les denrées urbaines et la sécurité alimentaire, mettant en exergue les rôles spécifiques de la gestion et de l’utilisation durables des...

The Shashe farms in the Runde catchment area of Zimbabwe extend across three villages. Since 2010, over 500 families from the region have worked alongside ZIMSOFF (Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers Forum) and AZTREC (Association of Zimbabwe Traditional Environmental Conversationists) to revive arid cattle-ranching land into rich, abundant food forests.

Five years after the catastrophic Cyclone Idai hit Chimanimani District in Zimbabwe, claiming over 500 lives and causing extensive destruction, the community's journey towards recovery and resilience offers a beacon of hope. This article by John Willson delves into the heart of Chimanimani's efforts, showcasing how the district is confronting...

This document sheds light on the ongoing efforts in Eastern and Southern Africa to develop National Agroecology Strategies (NASs), aiming to transform agri-food systems through the promotion of agroecological production practices, and the development of markets, value chains, and consumer demand. The brief offers an unique insight into policy advancements...

The case study comes from the north-western part of Zimbabwe, the Hurungwe district of Mashonaland West province, where local communities experience high levels of human-wildlife conflict. The area is also vulnerable to the transmission of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) from the African buffalo to cattle, which can devastate farmers'...

My wife and I have always dreamt about going back to the rural areas to start farming. Mainly to start growing our own food, spending days tending a flock of chickens, and maybe growing a big garden for our family and perhaps allow our children to enjoy what nature is...

From as early as I can remember, my grandparents inspired me with their love for gardening and growing food. They were enthusiastic, knowledgeable and instinctively knew how to grow vegetables and fruit. As a young child I would spend many days in the home garden with them, helping to weed...

Since 2000, many African countries have introduced programs aimed at providing smallholder farmers with low-cost certificates for land held un-der customary tenure. Yet there are many contending views and debates on the impact of these land policies and this book reveals how tenure security, agricultural productivity, and social inclusion were...

The Family Farming Knowledge Platform in collaboration with the Barefoot Guide Connection organized a series of “writeshops”, writing classes to support practitioners to write their own experience, generating knowledge which highlight the practices, changes, innovations and impacts of what they do in support of family farming. These writeshops represented an opportunity...

In the early 2000s, the Shashe farming area in Mashava, Zimbabwe, was a barren land, ravaged by deforestation and diminishing water levels. Fast forward two decades, and the region stands transformed into a beacon of agroecological innovation. Nelson Mudzingwa and Elizabeth Mpofu are among the smallholder farmers who pioneered this...

The main aim of the research was to analyze whether nutrition education and farm production diversification improved household dietary diversity as well as fruit and vegetable consumption among rural households in Zimbabwe. A cross-sectional survey using systematic random sampling was conducted in eight rural districts covering 1417 households. Poisson, Instrumental...

Government officials, fish industry captains, civil society and private sector representatives have launched consultations on a new fisheries and aquaculture bill for Zimbabwe. Hailed as a first of its kind piece of legislation, the bill marks a milestone in efforts by the Southern African nation to bolster its fisheries and...

It was ten days into the first 21 days of lockdown of the COVID-19 crisis. We, like all other families in our neighbourhood, had stocked food in the house, using the little cash we had on food, in fear that we would not be able to go out and buy,...

Partners of a new resilience building initiative in Zimbabwe held a launch meeting in Harare on 7 October 2022, gathering 80 participants, including national agricultural extension programmes, government representatives, academic institutions, government representatives, private sector actors, the media, EU representatives and national agricultural research and development organisations. Entitled "Resilience Building through...

My wife and I have always dreamt about going back to the rural areas to start farming. Mainly to start growing our own food, spending days tending a flock of chickens, and maybe growing a big garden for our family and perhaps allowing our children to enjoy what nature is...

Dear Diary Monday: How did this all begin? From as early as I can remember, my grandparents inspired me with their love for gardening and growing food. They were enthusiastic, knowledgeable and instinctively knew how to grow vegetables and fruit. As a young child I would spend many days in the home...

Agroecology is an approach that seeks to improve the integration of food systems through environmentally sustainable production systems. This paper explores the key practices considered to define agroecological farming in Bikita District of Masvingo in Zimbabwe. It reviewed the literature on agroecology and presented a criterion that informed analysis to...

According to a new study, rising temperatures and decreased rainfall in eight Southern and East African countries are likely to reduce the production of vital food crops in the region by 2050. The International Fund for Agricultural Development has issued the scientists' report, which covers Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda,...

Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children globally and an important contributor to the burden of night blindness in pregnant women and severe illness and death in children under the age of five. Southern Africa is not spared.  In Zimbabwe, nearly one in five children under...

Women smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe have appealed for government assistance, claiming that they are often ignored when authorities and other organizations visit their regions to provide agricultural assistance. Despite their significant contribution to the country's food security, female smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe who practice agroecology (AE) and grow 'women seeds,'...