Gwanda Cultural Artifacts Association to start a Mopani worm project.

By Rebecca Seth Mutasa:

GWANDA-The chairman of the Gwanda Cultural Artifacts Association (GCAA) Mr. Raymond Mauba said he is in the process of starting a Mopani worm Association in a bid to uplift communities were Mopani worms are found and harvested.

“Currently I’m meeting with chiefs and other stakeholders so that we introduce the Mopani worm association. After realizing that the communities where Mopani worms are harvested gain nothing from the Mopani worms, I then came up with an idea of forming an association that will make sure that everyone who harvests Mopani worms in a certain community pays a certain fee that will benefit that community.

“I want the Association to be available before the bumper harvest of Mopani worms Gwanda is expecting this year,” he said.

This association will register all villagers so that outsiders pay a certain fee so as to gain access to Mopani worm trees or buy straight from the association as a whole.

“Most villagers are not benefiting from this natural product because right now as we speak everyone has access to Mopani trees without any restrictions of which the community of Gwanda as a whole is being affected,” Mauba said.

The association will serve to control the harvesting and sales of the Mopani worm. There are traditional methods of harvesting Mopani worms and most people have little to no knowledge when it comes to these methods.

“I want Gwanda to have a Mopani culture which will be recognized nationally and internationally. Thus in a business sense, Gwanda will benefit thereby develop,” says the GCAA chairman.

Mauba said he also wants Gwanda community to be educated on the harvesting methods, especially looking at the challenges faced last year when people were cutting down trees. This was due to lack of awareness on the importance of preserving Mopani trees as sources of Mopani worms. This will be reinforced by the ‘plant a tree’ policy practiced worldwide.

Mauba said that he learnt a lot of methods one could use to sustain nature at the same time use it for a variety of purposes, which is why this season he hopes that with the introduction of this association things will change.

“I don’t want communities to suffer financially when they have an income generating commodity,” he said.

A principle he learnt in China, society must be educated to use available resources to their own advantage.

“People have little knowledge of which educating them is a step in the development of Gwanda and Zimbabwe as a whole. This will go a step further in ensuring a brighter future for the next generation.

Mopani worms popularly referred to as ‘amacimbi’ by the Ndebele populace is a healthy snack or relish which is welcome in almost every household. Each and every season, the Zimbabwean community gathers to harvest these worms and sell them in small and large quantities.

As Gwanda community is looking forward to this year’s Mopani worm harvest; a tradition popular all over Southern Africa, Mauba wishes to give back to society all the knowledge he acquired on his trip in China last year.