Revival of Indigenous Food Security Strategies at the Village Level: The Human Factor Implications

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Periodical article

Title:	Revival of Indigenous Food Security Strategies at the Village Level: The Human Factor Implications
Author:	Mararike, Claude G.
Year:	2001
Periodical:	Zambezia (ISSN 0379-0622)
Volume:	28
Issue:	1
Pages:	53-65
Language:	English
Notes:	biblio. refs.
Geographic terms:	Zimbabwe Southern Africa
Subjects:	subsistence economy food policy Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) sociology food security Social participation Survival strategies Traditional practices
External link:	https://d.lib.msu.edu/juz/729/OBJ/download
Abstract:	In 1996, the Nutrition Unit in Zimbabwe's Ministry of Health and Child Welfare welcomed a request by members of the Council of Chiefs to revive a traditional food security strategy, known as Zunde raMambo in Shona. The assumption made at the time was that since Zunde was a traditional practice, communities would find it easy to identify with it and, therefore, would support it. The revival of Zunde raMambo would solve the problem of food shortage at village level. However, by 1999, the revival and implementation of Zunde had yielded varying results. It was then decided that the Zunde project should be evaluated to assess whether it was a sustainable community food security programme or not. This article first explains the historical context of Zunde and examines some case studies before presenting the findings of the evaluation. It also discusses the level of human factor competence as a major variable in the success or failure of the project. Bibliogr., ref., sum.