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There was a sense of urgency amongst the participants. Just three months after this initial meeting in Namibia, the ZERI Foundation decided to fund a barefoot mushroom farming training at Africa University in Mutare since it was already growing mushrooms. Prof. S.T. Chan joined Margaret Tagwira demonstrated to a small group of academic staff from five Southern African countries (Namibia, Tanzania, Malawi, Lesotho and Zimbabwe) how biomass, including the invasive aquatic species water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipis) could be used to farm mushrooms. The focus was on oyster mushrooms known as Pleurotus species. Margaret Tagwira coordinated the training program and committed to translate this vision and technique to the typical conditions of Africa.
Several months later she traveled to China to learn first hand from the experiences there. Upon returning, Margaret immediately moved forward to implement a strategy how this know-how could reach the unreached, i.e. the large number of orphans who find little or no support and suffer from chronic malnourishment.
Margaret Tagwira set out to test mushroom farming on water hyacinth and presented a first scientific paper outlining the results of her findings with the peer review of Prof. S. T. Chang and Prof. Dr. Keto Mshigeni (then Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Namibia) . She discovered that on one hundred kilograms of dried water hyacinth, she could harvest up to 240 kilograms of fresh mushrooms, known as a biological efficiency of 240 percent. Margaret felt that there was a great need to quickly move beyond the academic exercise to determine the biological efficiency; she wanted to ensure that the recent findings would empower a growing number of vulnerable citizens. In the fall of 1996, Margaret organized the first mushroom farming training for 15 orphans at Africa University. Chido Govera was amongst the first to participate in this program. She was barely 12 years old though keen to learn how to feed her family nucleus without having to scavenge the fields, and how to convert this generative capacity of natural systems into a permanent resource for their local community.
The decision to expose the orphans at such a young age to mushroom farming at a University Campus was -the least to say- unorthodox but most effective. Margaret not only had to secure time and space at her laboratory, she had to identify the candidates in the villages, organize their transport and lodging, dress and feed the children. The orphans loved the program and after only one week of intensive training, in a language void of any scientific jargon, and using tools that are available in any village, Margaret secured that the kids would return to their homes equipped with the skills needed. The children would know how with just one fresh fruiting body of a mushroom to initiate a complete farming process.
Perhaps the most important contribution Margaret offered over and above the production techniques to reach food security is hope. The children left Africa University with the conviction that they hold the future of their family and their community in their hands. As long as they focus on wasted biomass that is available in abundance, they could secure food for themselves and their family forever. As long as the community combines their efforts, then it could become self-reliant in food. It is remarkable that these children not only succeeded in feeding themselves, they even earned some money as excess production was sold on the local markets. These children could even pay for some of them or their siblings to go back to school. These orphans became the entrepreneurs of the bottom of the pyramid.
There was a sense of urgency amongst the participants. Just three months after this initial meeting in Namibia, the ZERI Foundation decided to fund a barefoot mushroom farming training at Africa University in Mutare since it was already growing mushrooms. Prof. S.T. Chan joined Margaret Tagwira demonstrated to a small group of academic staff from five Southern African countries (Namibia, Tanzania, Malawi, Lesotho and Zimbabwe) how biomass, including the invasive aquatic species water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipis) could be used to farm mushrooms. The focus was on oyster mushrooms known as Pleurotus species. Margaret Tagwira coordinated the training program and committed to translate this vision and technique to the typical conditions of Africa.
Chido Govera worked hard for years and found that she and her friends had indeed acquired a unique tool to secure food on a daily basis and earn some income. That was unheard of in Southern Africa: these young girls somehow had become micro-entrepreneurs in their early teens. A dream had become reality. It is therefore no surprise that the farming evolved from an individual effort to a community initiative. Margaret continued to provide support, visiting the orphans in their villages, cooking meals to demonstrate how these fresh mushrooms could be integrated in their simple meal providing taste and substance. Margaret brought the community the latest insights in mushroom farming techniques always making it easier and simpler while maintaining productivity levels. These classes were a success and the practice of converting farm waste to food slowly became a tradition in the region around Mutare.
However, an orphan with the skill to generate an abundance of food, equipped with a certificate from the University and a positive attitude towards life is a much sought after candidate wife. Men would quickly step forward and propose to marry these young girls. Since these teenage girls have not had fathers nor parental guidance for years, the opportunity to start a family, even at such early stage in life, was simply too difficult to refuse for most of them. Margaret noted that by 1998 the majority of orphans (13 out of 15) of the first training had married. Whereas they would still be able to use their skills at home, these soon to be young mothers would not be in a position to spread their skills through the community as was originally hoped for. Margaret decided that more was needed to secure that the two girls who had not yet married at the age of 14 would remain independent and aware of their value to their family and peers. Soon after one married, and only Chido remained single. Margaret with the support of her husband Fanuel finally decided to adopt Chido, provide a home and offer her the opportunity to go back to school.
The moment Chido arrived at the Tagwira family home in 1998; she was permitted to be a child again. Since 1993 she had supported her brother and now near-blind grandmother, succeeding in maintaining her brother at school and feeding them all. The mushroom farming had become her great asset. However, the Tagwira family secured her re-entry into school after five years of absence and even though she had not attended any classes since sixth grade, Chido quickly caught up with the other children while continuing to develop and improve her mushroom farming skills. Under the guidance of Margaret, Chido acquired the detailed knowledge of how to simplify all procedures, learned how to adjust to different substrates and environmental conditions. A genuine farming technique appropriate for the Zimbabwean villages emerged. As the years passed Chido became one of the most knowledgeable barefoot scientists in mushroom farming.
By 2006, Chido had caught up with her education and is reading her “O” level exams. She demonstrates a tremendous commitment to combine her traditional education with further advanced experiences. The ZERI Foundation committed to complement the mentorship of Margaret with additional experiences in mushroom farming from around the world. Chido will be exposed in 2007 to the mushroom production skills in Colombia at the City of Manizales where coffee waste is the key substrate. Accompanied by Carmenza Jaramillo , Chido will observe how women cooperatives in the peri-urban zone have succeeded in operating inner city farming providing nutrients for school lunches to disadvantaged children. This program had been initiated through the ZERI Foundation in 1996 and was first scientifically certified through CENICAFE, the research center of the Cooperative of Coffee Farmers of Colombia . At the same time Chido will learn how to preserve and package mushrooms at the Universidad de la Sabana in Bogota´. It is here that the ZERI Foundation initiated the Master Program in Systems Design for Food and Nutrition.
In the fall of 2007, Chido will travel to Europe and work with Dr. Ivanka Milenkovic, the scientist from the University of Belgrade who demonstrated how waste from mushroom farming can be used to supplement feed for chickens, pigs and/or cows depending on the substrate used and type of mushroom farmed. These insights, which were published in Elsevier Science magazines , expand the food security web on a farm from plant waste over mushroom farming to improved efficiency in animal husbandry. Ivanka has been a key scientist in the ZERI network with mushroom related projects that have been implemented in the USA (New Mexico) and the UK (Bulmers) . These experiences will permit Chido to imagine and design her own solutions for communities in Africa.
Chido has a hands-on approach and is clearly dedicated to reach out to her community in Zimbabwe. However, after she presented for the first time ever on September 16, 2006 her personal and professional experience to a broad audience at the Youth Employment Summit in Nairobi, Kenya -where she was considered the best contribution of all- she will certainly be called upon throughout the continent. Chido is prepared to live up to that calling and has committed to refine her skills and thus empower others to achieve what she has been able to do. When asked about a possible marriage, Chido is clear that she is not yet prepared to make such a commitment and that the right person simply has not yet stepped forward ready to support her in her endeavors to stamp poverty and especially under-nourishment out of Africa.
Margaret Tagwira sensed the need to build up her laboratory and biotechnology expertise with insights in nutrition and health. After all, a balanced intake of food, generated on the basis of what the local ecosystem can produce, is the precondition for health and development of a child. She started studying again in 2004 and by 2006, Margaret Tagwira obtained her Master degree in Public Health. Now she is pursuing a doctorate in food and nutrition based on her experience with innovative farming practices that include mushrooms and amaranth, a corn-like crop rich in essential amino acids. Her portfolio of options to combat hunger is further enhanced with new experiences in algae, especially spirulina which are originally from the African continent . The generative capacity of natural systems based on the five kingdoms of nature are proving to be tremendous tools to fight poverty. Mother and daughter are emerging as an exceptional team, complementing each other while sharing this firm dedication to make a difference on the ground, especially for the orphans in Zimbabwe and now throughout Africa.
Their commitment demonstrates how solutions for Africa can be found in Africa, with what Africa has . The ZERI Foundation maintained its focus on the basic needs like water, food, health, energy, housing, jobs and education. Empowering Margaret and Chido while exposing them to other pioneering work around the world permits both of them to becoming the change agents at the grassroots level the African Continent needs so urgently. The ZERI Foundation feels so privileged to have been a catalyst in this critical process.
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