Sponsors needed to support a pioneering Zimbabwean agroecological award

How Zephaniah Phiri transformed his parched environment

Deep in Zimbabwe's rural areas, in one of the driest districts that receives low and unreliable rainfall, lives a wise, old man.  His name is Zephaniah Phiri - locally referred to as VaPhiri. His life story is both fascinating and inspiring, as reported by Mary Witoshynsky and Jane Sheperd, in 'The Water Harvester', published in 2000:

Granite outcrop in Zvishivane

In 1964, VaPhiri was imprisoned, then fired from his job by the Rhodesian authorities for being politically active and had to return to his rural home in order to survive. Living in the low-rainfall district of Zvishivane in south-east Zimbabwe he quickly discovered that water was key to successful farming. He also realised that rainfall which is not harvested is not only lost to farmers but also degrades the land.

VaPhiri  and his family live on 3.5  hectares that slope gently downwards from a massive granite outcrop to a wetland area. VaPhiri started his water-harvesting beneath this outcrop by catching the run-off in very large pits. He and his wife then worked their way downwards, sinking and spreading the water in various ingenious, simple and sophisticated ways. With all the water going into the ground they were assured of a productive wetland where ponds surrounded with lush, water-loving plants, were created. This also meant that there was sufficient water for their cropping areas, depending on the season.

You can read more about VaPhiri in the Ecologist, here... and watch him, here...

Recognising a lifetime's achievement 

Zephaniah Phiri

Two PhD students 'discovered' the work of VaPhiri in the 1980s and helped him share his 'water genius' with the wider world. Since then thousands of farmers and development workers have visited his farm and taken his practices back to their farms. Books have been written and films made. In many ways, Zephaniah Phiri is the Godfather of the modern ecological farming movement in Zimbabwe. And to honour him, a celebration was arranged in 2010 at the University of Zimbabwe, where he was given a lifetime achievement award.

At this event, the idea was put forward to establish an award that distinguishes other male and female farmers and food innovators in Zimbabwe. That idea is now becoming a reality. The purpose is to give prominence to the role of grassroots innovators who are either not recognised at all or not yet recognised enough. All across Africa there are women and men who are creating sustainable ways to improve their livelihoods in their own localities. While this fact is appreciated by small bands of interested agroecologists, there is need for a much wider celebration of these achievements.

Creating the Phiri Award

Eight experienced agroecologists have come together to form the Phiri Award for Food and Farm Innovators Trust. They recognise the role that grassroots innovators can play and would like to honour this through a well publicised award.

The Phiri Award Trust will receive nominations from October to December this year. This will result in a shortlist of seven smallholder farmers who will be assessed by a team of five experienced agroecologists during March, 2014. We urgently need people with experience in promoting agroecology or permaculture who can both sponsor and take part in these assessments. This will be a fantastic way of seeing Zimbabwe, you will be accompanied by local people when travelling in the rural areas, where you will learn from innovators about their environment and how it drives innovation to ensure food security.

Could you sponsor a visit?

Each farm visit will take a day plus the amount of travel time. Once the shortlist is known, the Phiri Award Coordinator will work out a schedule of visits. We estimate that the total cost of the visits will be around USD7,000. This will cover vehicle hire, fuel, food and accommodation for the five people doing the visiting. It's impossible to know the exact cost until we know where the shortlisted farmers live.

The Coordinator will also work closely with the sponsor to plan his/her overall trip to Zimbabwe. This could include any number of other activities such as trips to Victoria Falls, Matopos, a game park, the Eastern Highlands, Great Zimbabwe and so on. It will all depend on what the sponsor wants to do, how much time (s)he has and the costs.

If you want to find out more, please contact John Wilson via: phiriaward@gmail.com

List of Trustees of the Phiri Award for Farm and Food Innovators: 

• Mr. Andrew Mushita - Director of Community Technology Development Trust
• Professor Ntombizakhe Mlilo - Dean, Faculty of Life Sciences, Gwanda State University
• Dr. Ken Wilson - Director of the Christensen Foundation
• Professor Mandivamba Rukuni - Director of Barefoot Education Africa Trust 
• Ms. Lillian Machivenyika - Director of CADS
• Mr. Abraham Mawere - Research assistant, communal farmer and longtime colleague of Zephaniah Phiri