Developing rural communities through indigenous knowledge systems
THE establishment of Transfrontier Conservation Areas in Africa at the turn of the millennium that was inspired by the need to conserve the natural resources and grow a spirit of collective ownership was not just an exemplary process of partnerships between governments and the private sector. It was more than that.
It gave birth to the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park Treaty that linked the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, Kruger National Park in South Africa, Gonarezhou National Park, Manjinji Pan sanctuary and Malipati Safari area in Zimbabwe, as well as two areas between Kruger and Gonarezhou, namely the Sengwe communal land in Zimbabwe and the Maluleke region in South Africa into one huge conservation area of 35 000 km².
Although its scope was only limited to conservation of natural resources and the creation of a free wildlife zone between the three countries, more benefits were unforeseen then but are beginning to manifest now after the realisation that creating a borderless region in the name of the transfrontier area for wildlife was not enough when the communities in the three countries that share a lot of cultural similarities were still separated by the same border that the animals were allowed to bypass.
It was in this light that the Centre for Cultural Development Initiatives (formerly known as Gaza Trust) decided to create the Great Limpopo Cultural Fair in furtherance of the scope of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park from where the cultural fair draws its inspiration and spirit.
The idea behind the Great Limpopo Cultural Fair according to its founder and director Mr Hebert Pikela was to drive development in the three countries’ border line communities using cultural products.
“The idea is to use cultural initiatives as a vehicle for development in the rural communities that are directly linked to the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. We are not limiting our influence to that area only but would also want to cover a wider area with the objective of driving and packaging development using different cultures.
“We want to dispel the misnotion that culture has to do with the arts only and that this is an arts festival. That is not true; the arts are only part of a people’s culture. Culture is a whole way of life. It is the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, religion, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving.
“It is these concepts of culture that are similar between the people in the three countries that make up the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park that we seek to promote and use to drive development,” said Mr Pikela in an interview after the 4th edition of the fair at Muhlanguleni Business Centre in Chiredzi.
This year’s edition of the Great Limpopo Cultural Fair was loaded with various packages tailor made for kids, traditionalists, religious people, women, scholars, and cultural tourists and was running under the theme, “Promoting women through culture, conservation and value addition”.
Mr Pikela said the cultural and tourism fair that was adopted by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority sought to promote, develop and conserve the cultural heritage of the Great Limpopo Community and aid in the their social, economic and environmental development.
Chiredzi Rural District Council Executive Officer for Community Services Mr Mikia Majatame added that the fair was the best platform to link the rural communities to the markets of their products and for the stakeholders in the country’s development discourse to meet, interact and share notes with communities.
“The cultural and tourism fair presents stakeholders with a regional platform to address regional problems such as irregular migration, poaching, and extinction of cultural practices, historical questions and cross cutting issues such as HIV/Aids, international crime, and most importantly poverty reduction,” said Mr Majatame.
He said it was his hope that development of basic infrastructure was brought to the rural communities so that their livelihoods were improved.
“It is our hope that such platforms be used as a basis to develop education, agriculture and cultural tourism and to promote education for children in this entire region especially the girl child and women,” he added.
Minister of State for Masvingo Province Cde Shuvai Mahofa said the theme for this year’s edition was in line with the country’s thrust of empowering women by giving them expression and a platform for the exhibition of cultural products that push development through indigenous knowledge systems.
She said it further gave women an opportunity to attend market connection workshops that built their business capacity as well as present them with traditional fireplace discussions that focused on conservation of natural resources and adaptation to climate change effects.
“I am particularly happy that this year’s theme: ‘Promoting women through culture, conservation and value addition’ captures the role of women in culture promotion and in development in general. There is nothing as empowering as expressing yourself in your culture and women have been custodians of this culture since time immemorial.
“A mother selflessly inculcates cultural meaning to her baby when it is still in the womb, thus this Fair has seen the community largely women, benefiting from the deliberate programming here that included exhibition of cultural products and indigenous knowledge systems, market connection workshops,” said Minister Mahofa.
She added that the heartbeat of people’s culture at the Fair beats with a rhythm that suggests the brighter prospects of the future and it was important that business was being done in a cultural setup.
Emphasising the importance of culture she said, “We realise that culture is the glue that not only brings us together as a region but also makes us to speak with one undistorted language. Our boundaries pale to insignificance and oneness binds us together as a family regardless of our diversity,” she added.
As envisaged the Great Limpopo Cultural Fair unveiled new business opportunities to market cultural products and attract other key business partnerships in the region through marketing of investment opportunities emanating from the development of Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park.
Participants at the fair included communities from within the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA’s) sphere of influence namely the Shangani, Tsonga, Venda, Ndebele, and Karanga communities found in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Mozambique respectively.
Government departments and the private sector from the three Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area partner countries (Zimbabwe, South Africa and Mozambique) also participated at the Fair.
Among Government officials who attended were Deputy Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Cde Thokozile Mathuthu, Senator Tambudzai Mohadi and provincial and district officials.
Traditional leaders were also in attendance.