Fire, Water, and Earth

Return to Zambia / Alan A. Imai

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Last year, I shared my Zambia story with you in the pages of this magazine. The story left off with a terrible draught and the threat off amine facing the people who farm the cooperatives that Shumei is helping in the Southern Province of Zambia. Since then, so many fortunate things have occurred. I have received tremendous encouragement and support from all around the world. People really prayed hard for the rains to come in Zambia.

But first I will review what has happened up till now. Barbara Hachipuka, who took over the organization of the women farmer's cooperatives as a program coordinator after her mother's death, visited Misono and the Miho Museum in September 2004. That was the beginning. After that she returned to Zambia and shared her experiences of Japan with her farmers. Of special note were her visits to Kishima Island and Hiroshima, where she learned about Shumei's practice of Natural Agriculture. At that time, the farmers were having difficulty due to the lack of rain and the resources needed to buy seeds and chemical fertilizer that were necessary for them to grow their commercial hybrid seeds, which the government provided them. But while in Japan, Barbara discovered that Natural Agriculture does not require or use any fertilizers or industrial agricultural products. Also, we do not buy our seeds, but save them from the previous crop. This was a totally different practice from that used by the Africans. I did not realize when I first went to Africa that the method off arming that I took to be their traditional way was actually the Western way. The native horticultural practices were wiped out when Western civilizations arrived in Africa and replaced them with their own. And today, these farmers are under tremendous pressure from their government and from big corporations to continue farming in this way.

Zambia is in the southern part of Africa. It has a population that is one–tenth that of Japan, and it has twice as much available land that can be cultivated. The site of our project is a four–to–five hour drive southwest from the capital city of Lusaka. Around the end of the dry season in November, the area is very parched, so about that time everyone begins to worry if the rains will come. When I visited there in 2004, some streams were completely dry, and their shiny riverbeds were exposed. I was told that if I came back to Zambia after three months, the rivers should be gushing. But when I returned in March of2005, nothing had changed. The river was still bone–dry. The President of Zambia declared a national emergency in December of 2005. There would not be enough food to feed the people.

The farmers had trouble getting enough water to drink or for other daily uses. People used water from a dam built for cattle, which was very risky. Farmers would have to walk five to seven kilometers (about three to four miles) from their houses to get to areas with enough water to grow even a small amount of vegetables. Their staple crop, maize, was ruined by the drought. But even in that situation, I saw some green, nicely grown maize in some spots. This turned out to be the indigenous maize, not the hybrid. Seeing this, I thought that we must save the seeds of the native maize and share them with the farmers so that everyone can have a good harvest even in times of drought.

I visited eight cooperatives, which consisted of about 1,700 farmers, so that I could share with them the philosophy of Natural Agriculture. After each session, I would ask who would like to practice Natural Agriculture. Almost everyone's hand went up.

This is a large area and there are few cars or motorcycles to cross it. If a person is lucky, they might own a bicycle. Usually, when we have a meeting, people have to walk four to five hours or ride a bicycle for three hours to get to our meeting place. If I send a message to the farmers, it takes about ten days for that message to reach everyone. Even then, I am never sure who will show up until the time of the meeting. So, Shumei provided some bicycles for the cooperatives.

We also chose twenty demonstration farmers to educate so they could share the knowledge they gained with other farmers (since there are approximately 1,700 farmers, it is impossible for us to meet with all of them).Last year in July, wehad the first session with the demo farmers, and we talked about the principles of Natural Agriculture. I was impressed with all the people who are participating, because even though some of them had more than thirty years of farming experience, they were willing to totally change their way of thinking about agriculture. During my presentation, I drew a diagram describing the three key elements necessary for Natural Agriculture: Fire, Water, and Earth. They took this paper on which I drew and carried it to about twenty different locations to share with other farmers. That was a key success for this project, because much of it rested upon the farmers themselves keeping up the momentum while I was not there. Over 1,300 farmers were able to attend these sessions to learn the philosophy of Natural Agriculture.

In addition, we collected seven tons of native seed varieties to share with the farmers. To do this, we provided second–hand motorcycles to people who would travel around looking for farmers who still kept indigenous crops. We bought and collected this corn over a three–to four–month period. And then at the end of last October and the beginning of November I returned to Zambia and visited eight cooperatives to speak about the importance of saving seeds. Then each was given a bag of seeds.

The Zambian people are basically a happy people. They start singing and dancing whenever the opportunity arises. But they still struggle to survive—even with a good harvest, they still can-not afford to eat three meals a day. Some people eat only once a day because they do not have enough food. We collected only seven tons of native seeds. Originally we wanted ten tons, but could not get that much. We were planning to give each farmer ten kilograms, but we could only give them five. The good side of this was that we were able to share the seeds with 1,400 farmers.

Japanese people will instantly recognize that these trucks are old second–hand relics from Japan. The Zambians, like the Japanese, drive on the left–hand side of the street, so Japanese second–hand trucks with their steering wheels on the right are very practical there. In Zambia, almost all second–hand trucks are Japanese. The people there cannot read the Japanese characters, but we can tell by looking at the company labels on them whether the truck came from Gunma or Hyogo Prefecture.

I reported the events that had occurred in Zambia after my visit last November to the Senseis in Japan. Kaicho–Sensei mentioned it during the December 1 Harvest Celebration, and she asked that Shumei members pray for rain in Zambia. After the celebration I felt a great deal of energy. Everyone I met asked me if the rains were coming in Zambia. Some of my friends here in the U.S. performed a Native American ceremony asking for rain in Zambia. I felt as if we were all becoming one people through our wishes and prayers.

And when I returned to Zambia in mid–December, I was greeted by a beautiful rainbow. The once empty riverbed was now full of water and there was plenty of green on the banks. As I was leaving, it started to rain. Though the Zambians do not have umbrellas, this rain was a cause of much happiness. Maize was already growing, and those who planted their seeds in November had nicely grown plants. By March, the maize had fully grown and was ready for harvest. Even now when I stay in Zambia, my main difficulty is using water. We usually come back to our quarters at around 5:00 or6:00 p.m. after meeting with the farmers, and we have running water only until 9:00 p.m. If we want water after that, we have to save it in buckets. Though we could not take a proper shower, at least we had enough water to sprinkle over ourselves. The Zambians are used to using less water, but I still wonder how they can handle the constant dust everywhere. I cannot sleep without first rinsing my whole body.

On my visit in July of 2005, we gave a man a digital camera to take pictures for us when we were gone. He happily took over five hundred of them. Since there is no place to download the photos he had taken, we brought in a computer. The simple office in which that computer now sits is the most advanced high–tech place in the whole of that vast rural area.

One farmer we met had the hybrid seeds from the government, but could not afford to buy the chemical fertilizers necessary to grow them. As a result, the maize he bought grew very poorly. Yet in the same field, the native maize flourished. It grew from the seeds we provided. Without using chemical fertilizers, the local variety was doing very well. This year, each farmer is going to save at least one hundred kilograms of seed, which means next season, they will each be able to sow five to ten hectares of land (about twelve to twenty–five acres).So now these 1,400farmers will no longer have to rely on hybrid seeds. Each of these farmers will return five kilograms of seed to the cooperatives so that another 1,400 farmers will be able to receive free indigenous seeds. That way we can double the number of farmers growing the native variety next year.

One of the construction projects now underway involves six hundred farmers. They are building a local store, because buying even just a simple box of matches now requires a walk of four to five hours. They made bricks for the structure by hand, but could not afford a roof or frames for the doors and windows. So, Shumei donated these to the project.

We are planning to hold our first Natural Agriculture show in Zambia. Because these people have lost their culture, they do not have any other traditional social occasions in which they can get together, aside from weddings and funerals. We hope that a Natural Agriculture show will give them a chance to renew and celebrate their culture once again. Since many kinds of vegetables will be harvested from July to September, I suggested that the celebration take place in July. They initially suggested September, but that is the hottest and most mosquito–infested month, and I am afraid of malaria. Besides, July is the best time to visit. We are expecting about two thousand to three thousand people. This will be one of the biggest gatherings most of these people have ever attended. We are now making preparations for this event. Recently, a local chief gave the women's cooperatives a huge piece of land that is still mostly forested and undeveloped. This site would be used for the first Natural Agriculture show and later would become the official head-quarters of the women's cooperatives. It also presents an opportunity for the men to pitch in and do some work. All the men got together and worked very hard to clear the area.

Together with food and local traditions, we want to bring other forms of culture such as music and dancing back to the area. At this Natural Agriculture Show, there will be 2,000Zambians dancing and singing. Imagine how powerful that will be! After the rainy season is over, this area will be cleaned up and the farmers will make the ground flat. We want to build a soccer field on the site, and hold sports tournaments. Shumei also donated some soccer balls, because the balls the players were using consisted of plastic trash rolled together in a clump. They were so happy, just with the gift of a few soccer balls. When we gave them out, the Zambians started dancing and throwing the balls. The winning team of the soccer competition will get a well dug for the use of their cooperative. There is another game called ‘netball,’ which will be played by women. The winning cooperative in this competition will receive a mill for grinding maize. Some really exciting events are coming up.

This all sounds good. But the most important thing we must remember to do for these farmers is to protect them. This year, nobody knows what is happening in this area of rural Zambia. But next year 2,800 farmers will be switching over to Natural Agriculture and will stop buying hybrid seeds. You can imagine how happy the seed companies will be about that. And they and the government will put tremendous pressure on these farmers to once again buy their products. So at this stage, it is important for us to work with the local as well as the international community. We are planning to have a cocktail party shortly after the Natural Agriculture show. We would like to invite key governmental officials of Zambia to meet Kaicho–Sensei and other people to explain to them what we are doing. They will also be invited to the Natural Agriculture show. The U.S. government and corporations are doing all they can to push African countries into accepting GMO seeds. The principle of Shumei Natural Agriculture is totally against GMOs. Shumei is planning to have an event at the United Nations together with the Soil Association from UK and Rodale from USA. Such an event will, indirectly or directly, have a positive influence on the Zambian government's policy making. It is necessary for us to support the activities of like–minded organizations and people's work against GMOs — and more importantly, to advance our daily interest and participation in Shumei Natural Agriculture activities such as growing our own vegetables, eating Natural Agriculture food, visiting and helping the farmers, etc. Please always keep in mind that this is directly connected with protecting Zambian farmers.

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