Tag: Zimbabwe
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A SEED’S JOURNEY TO THE FAR FAR NORTH
It’s a long long way between Zimbabwe and the Svalbard Archipelago in the Barents Sea inside the Arctic Circle. It’s 10,500 km precisely. That’s a long way for a seed to travel. But a bunch of vacuum packed seeds of rice, sorghum, millets and groundnuts made that journey this week. I saw those seeds at the beginning and end of their journey. Last September, I travelled to Zimbabwe to see those seeds being multiplied, cleaned and processed for their long journey to the Arctic. And yesterday I saw those same seeds…
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THE VARIED PERSONALITIES OF MALUNGA
The last time it rained in Malunga was in January. The rainy season ended early in this part of the Motobo District of southwestern Zimbabwe, on the fringe of the Kalahari. The village only recorded 181 mm of rain during the rainy season, due to an El Niño-induced drought. The region is arid regardless and even in the best of years it wouldn’t get more than 400 mm of rain. But that’s enough to grow pearl millet and sorghum. My Crop Trust colleague, Beri, and I joined our partner from the…
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GOOD TO BE ORGANISED
For three days, my Crop Trust colleague, Beri, and I have been visiting farmers in Zimbabwe. As we arrive to each destination, we find a group ranging from 25 to 200 of farmers awaiting us under the shade of a tree or two. Without fail we are greeted with song and dance, which continue throughout our meetings. Today’s spontaneous performance at the Chimukoko Community Seed Bank in northeastern Zimbabwe was my favourite. In her closing remarks, Beri commended the community members for efforts in developing their genebank and how organised the…
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A SUNDAY STROLL IN HARARE
Jet lag got the best of me so instead of sleeping in on my first day in Zimbabwe, I woke up at dawn. It looked like a beautiful spring day in Harare so I put on my walking shoes to explore. There’s always one destination I aim for when I arrive to a new place: the botanic garden. Google Maps said it was a 30-minute walk from my hotel so despite the advice from the hotel reception who said you can’t walk there, I set out regardless. Google Maps was right.…
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