National News,
Zimbabwe's Mopani Worms Disappearing from Rural Diets
But as the lack of rain continues to cause havoc with the harvests in this southern African nation, it is now also affecting the supply of Mopani worms. And 49-year-old Mthombeni is a concerned man.
"There are no Mopani worms this year," he complained. Already this year's low harvest in Plumtree has meant that he has to live off the groceries sent to him by his children working in neighbouring Botswana.
"The Mopani worms I have tasted this year are not from my area. We always thought things like the Mopani worms would always be there, but look now…The poor rains have chased away our food," he told IPS.
Zimbabwe has experienced poor rains over the past few years. Though the Zimbabwe Meteorological Services Department had predicted rainfall would peak from October to December 2011, only parts of the country experienced heavy rains, while southwestern Zimbabwe conversely had low rainfall during this time.
This past week, rain fell across the country. But it has come long after farmers planted their crop, and much of the maize harvest was destroyed as a result.
The situation in Zimbabwe is typical of the region, as countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have been hit with wildly uneven rainfall patterns this rainy season. Madagascar and Mozambique have had a deluge of rain, thanks to Cyclone Giovanna, while countries like Mauritius and Zimbabwe have had low or no rainfall this season.
Bradwell Garanganga, from the SADC Climate Services Centre, explained that there is a finite amount of water available, and when it rains heavily in one area, the water is drawn from somewhere else.
"The amount of water that is available is virtually constant so, if it rains hard someplace, it means there is somewhere where the rain is not occurring. That, in summary, is what has been occurring in the SADC region in terms of rainfall," he said.
"This particular year has not been too good … If you were to draw a line from Gwanda, in Zimbabwe, to Francistown, in Botswana, all the way back to the southern part of Zimbabwe, that area has been extremely dry," he said.
Mopani worms thrive on fertile conditions and gorge themselves on lush green vegetation. But the disappearance of their environment could mean thousands of villagers in Plumtree, and other areas of the country that have seen poor rains, will be deprived of a vital source of nutrition in the years to come.
"It's not only about the loss of vegetation, and the declining numbers of Mopani worms. It is also about the loss of a major source of protein in the diet of many rural and urban people as well as a loss of income," said Sobona Mtisi, a climate change researcher with the Overseas Development Institute, which is also leading the Zimbabwean government's climate change policy formulation with the Climate Knowledge Development Network.
"This has adverse implications for people's health and income. Are we going to see an increase of diseases linked to a low-protein diet?" Mtisi asked.
While the rainy season has always brought with it an abundance of culinary choices for rural communities, it also provides a boost for rural economies.
Wendy Zulu is one of the rural women traders who earn their living selling Mopani worms. She makes seasonal trips to the city of Bulawayo, where she sells a variety of wares. But it is the proceeds from her sales of Mopani worms that form a substantial part of her income.
"I am yet to make the trip since the rainy season was supposed to begin late last year," Zulu said.
In the past, because of their economic value, when there was an abundance of Mopani worms, farmers and land owners would charge rural women traders like Zulu a fee to harvest them. Now, because of the lack of rainfall, there are hardly any to be seen.
"With poor rains, it has meant there is no green vegetation for these creatures. So I just have to wait and see what happens in the coming weeks, even months," Zulu told IPS. Many miles away in Bulawayo, consumers like Moffat Bancinyane, who over the years have enjoyed Mopani worms as an affordable culinary preference, can only wonder why they have become scarce.
"You can never understand why a thing like amacimbi can be out of stock. Come on, these things grow on trees," Bancinyane said after being told by a vendor outside a municipal beer hall that Mopani worms were not available.
"It is true what they say about the rains, that they give life in the most unexpected forms," Bancinyane said.
The scarcity of Mopani worms could just be an indication of a deeper crisis spurred by climate change, Mtisi said.
In 2005, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted that climate change would result in increasing aridity in southern Africa, one of the most populous parts of the continent. It also predicted that food production in countries like Zimbabwe would halve by 2020.
Despite their scarcity, Mopani worms remain big business in other parts of southern African. In Botswana it is a multi-million dollar industry, and South Africa harvests up to 1.6 million kilogrammes of Mopani worms annually.
*Additional reporting by Zukiswa Zimela in Johannesburg.
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National News,
Bigwigs under probe over inputs scam
Topping the list is Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri who accessed 80 tonnes of fertiliser from the Grain Marketing Board depot in Shamva for use at his Inyika farm while the majority of small scale farmers failed to get even a single bag.
A list prepared by the Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development ministry on how inputs under the Agriculture Loan Scheme were distributed revealed that Chihuri received 40 tonnes of Compound D fertiliser and 30 tonness of AN fertiliser before accessing an additional 10 tonnes of AN at a later stage.
Indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere accessed 24 tonnes for use at his Cornucopia Farm from the Concession depot, while Brigadier General Herbert Chingono got 21 tonnes, 12 of which were Compound D and nine tonnes of AN for use at Pentland Farm.
The list was handed to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Lands, Water, Irrigation and Resettlement chaired by Chikomba legislator Moses Jiri last week. The committee as well as cabinet is probing the matter. The investigation comes at a time when the country is facing a serious food deficit. Documents show details of how inputs were distributed between January 2 and March 14.
Mashonaland West governor Faber Chidarikire got 60 tonnes from the Banket depot. He received 30 tonnes of Compound D and an additional 30 tonnes of AN for use at his Kingstone Farm.
Former Mashonaland West governor and Zvimba West legislator Nelson Samkange got 41,5 tonnes of fertiliser for Rukaba Farm.
Chief magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe got 16 tonnes of compound D from Concession depot for his Georgia Farm while President Mugabe’s nephew Patrick Zhuwao got 15 tonnes for his Diandra Farm.
Agriculture minister Joseph Made and Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Didymus Mutasa are among the ministers named in the inputs scam.
Crime and Courts,
The Herald (Harare) Email Print Share Zimbabwe: Five Constables Arrested
The five were arrested last Friday while they were photocopying the papers at around 11pm at a complex popularly known as the White House in the city centre.
Sources said the five were scheduled to write the examination, which if they passed would have seen them promoted from Constable to Sergeant.
They are still assisting with investigations and detained at Harare Central Police Station.
Investigations are still being carried out to ascertain were these constables obtained the examination papers.
Chief police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena, yesterday said: "Five policemen are assisting with investigations in connection with the leakage of internal police examination papers.
"They were arrested last Friday and the examination was set for Saturday."
A senior police officer at Harare Central Police Station yesterday said: "They were arrested last Friday after they were found in possession of the examination papers.
"They are likely going to face charges under the Police Act."
Although the details were still sketchy it is believed that the five stole the examination papers before they decided to photocopy them.
During the process, it is alleged that a detective who was carrying out a surveillance at the building came across the five. They were found in possession of the papers and arrested.
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Zanu PF factions battle in district polls
The ongoing DCC elections have now become the battleground for the two factions wrestling for control of the provinces.
Although Zanu PF has two main camps, there are several other cliques defined mainly by regions and ethnicity, operating within and across the main blocs. In addition to these, there is also another group loyal to Mugabe.
Even though the 88-year-old leader remains the party’s presidential candidate for the elections, which Zanu PF wants to be slated for later this year, the two major camps are trying to position themselves for a post-Mugabe era — they are now looking beyond him.
Senior Zanu PF officials said this week the Mnangagwa faction’s strategy is to seize control of the party at a time when Mujuru is struggling to use her position in government and the party to her advantage.
Although the vice-president seems to be losing ground in her home province, Mashonaland Central, after her candidates lost in five of the eight DCC elections held last week, her faction is now concentrating on the other provinces.
Sources said the Mnangagwa faction was gaining more traction after the death of the vice-president’s influential husband, former army commander General Solomon Mujuru, in its bid to produce a successor to Mugabe.
Despite this, Zanu PF officials aligned to Mujuru’s faction were unperturbed, vowing that “the fight is now on”. The sources said the battle is now playing out in Manicaland where party functionaries aligned to Mnangagwa’s faction have been accused of imposing their candidates, the reason why Mujuru’s allies lost.
DCC elections in Makoni were abandoned, sources say, after it became apparent that the Mnangagwa faction’s candidate, incumbent Albert Nyakuedzwa, was losing.
The ballots, after being stuffed in “OK” supermarket plastic bags, were whisked away from the nine polling stations to Chipinge police station.
Manicaland leaders said provincial chairperson Mike Madiro, who is aligned to the Mnangagwa faction, took the ballot boxes at Vhengere polling station. They said election observers, who consisted of war veterans and war collaborators, were not consulted when the elections were nullified.
One provincial leader said: “They (people aligned to Mnangagwa’s faction) had lost in Chipinge and when they saw that they were losing in Makoni, they decided to abandon the election process, citing irregularities.”
“What irregularities? Who raised these issues and who is the complainant? They are now panicking and disrupting the DCC elections,” he added.
One of the candidates for the Makoni chairmanship, Guy Mutasa said the order to abandon the process came from Madiro.
“There was no counting of the votes after the last person cast their vote at 6pm. We were just told that elections have been nullified. They didn’t consult anyone and no polling agent accompanied the ballots,” Mutasa said.
“We are now not even sure if all the ballots were taken to Chipinge police station. Vote counting was supposed to have been done at the polling stations.”
The succession battle is also playing out in Mashonaland West with John Mafa, aligned to the Mnangagwa faction, recently won a fiercely-contested provincial chairmanship against deputy ministers Reuben Marumahoko and Walter Chidhakwa connected to the Mujuru camp.
Harare businessman Philip Chiyangwa, who also bounced back as the vice-chairperson, is also linked to the Mnangagwa faction, although his loyalty is fickle.
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