Chido Govero: Orphan teaching Orphans

How a young woman from Zimbabwe succeeded in overcoming
personal and cultural challenges and is now committed to
empowering others to do the same

Written by Gunter Pauli1

Chido Govero2 was only eight years old in 1993 when her mother died of AIDS. She found herself at a young age head of a small family nucleus with an aging grandmother and a younger brother. Chido had never known her father and now had lost her mother. She decided that she should drop out of elementary school where she had not even finished seventh grade, in order to work the gardens and the fields around her village close to Mutare, Zimbabwe to secure food for three. Chido felt that she had to give her brother a chance to go to school and therefore dedicated her childhood years to providing for those dearest to her. Chido never had the chance to be a child; she was an adult even before becoming a teenager.

                                         
                       Chido Govero                                        Margaret Tagwira

In 1994 Margaret Tagwira began experimenting with mushroom farming on agricultural waste at Africa University3 in Mutare. Part of the estate of Cecil Rhodes which had been given to the United Methodist Church to build the Old Mission School recently been donated to build Africa University. Margaret’s goal was to find new ways to feed more people faster, and the cultivation of mushrooms emerged as a promising option. However, despite there being such practices in other parts of the world (for example, in China, straw, wood and even animal manure are converted into fungal protein) this practice was new to Africa. Interestingly, mushrooms turned out to have been a staple food in Africa generations ago bridging a shortfall of nutrients between two crops. Unfortunately, colonialism, soil erosion and the destruction of the forest land had eliminated this tradition.

The persistent marginalization of rural populations and a lack of profitable income that characterizes the region urged Margaret to design creative solutions. As a lab technician with a solid background in biology and chemistry, she had the expertise to initiate a research program at the Africa University. Initially she planned to focus on biomass that is wasted on the farms; later she discovered the opportunity to use water hyacinth.

The ZERI Foundation’s4 goal is to respond to basic needs with available local resources. Gunter Pauli first articulated this vision in 1991 when he was president of Ecover, a small detergent company in Belgium. This vision became the underlying motivation for research at the United Nations University in 1994, where creative ways were being sought to respond to the pressing needs of our time. At the invitation of the University of Namibia, the first ZERI conference in Africa was held in January 1996 in Windhoek, Namibia with the support of the United Nations Development Programme.

During this week of discussions, the group of scientists from the African Continent emphatically concluded that an urgent effort was needed to convert massive amounts of agricultural waste throughout Africa into a feedstock for mushrooms. Prof. Dr. Shu-ting Chan, one of the world’s leading mycologists  based at the Chinese University in Hong Kong, urged the gathering to consider the Chinese experience. In China, a dozen varieties of mushrooms (depending on climate and substrate) have alleviated hunger for centuries and have become a staple food for a large part of the population. Better even, China had then become a large exporter of mushrooms.

There was a sense of urgency amongst the participants. Just three months after this initial meeting in Namibia, the ZERI Foundation funded a barefoot mushroom farming training at Africa University in Mutare. Prof. S.T. Chan joined Margaret and 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 the Pleurotus species. Margaret Tagwira coordinated the training program and committed to translate this vision and technique to the typical conditions of Africa.

Margaret Tagwira set out to test mushroom farming on water hyacinth and presented a preliminary scientific paper outlining the results of her findings with the peer reviews of Prof. S. T. Chang and Prof. Dr. Keto Mshigeni (then Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Namibia)5. She discovered that on 100 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 a great need to quickly move beyond an academic exercise in 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 Govero was amongst the first to participate in this program. She was barely 12 years old though motivated to learn how to feed her family nucleus without having to scavenge the fields. She would soon learn how to convert the generative capacity of natural systems into a permanent resource for her local community.

The decision to expose the orphans at such a young age to mushroom farming at a University Campus was, at the very least, unorthodox. Margaret not only had to provide time and space at her laboratory, she had to identify the candidates in the villages, organize their transport and lodging, as well as dress and feed the children. However, 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 taught them the skills needed. The children returned home with the knowledge of how to initiate a complete farming process with just one fresh fruiting body of a mushroom.

Perhaps the most important contribution Margaret offered over and above the food production techniques was hope. The children left Africa University with the conviction that they held the future of their family and their community in their hands. They now were aware that with continued focus on wasted biomass available in abundance, they could provide food for themselves and their family forever. Additionally, if the community added to their efforts, the community itself could become self-reliant in food production. It is remarkable that these children not only succeeded in feeding themselves, they also earned money as excess production was sold in local markets. These children were now even able to pay for themselves or their siblings to go back to school. These orphans became the entrepreneurs at the bottom of the pyramid.

Chido Govero 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 income. This was unheard of in Southern Africa: these young girls somehow had become micro-entrepreneurs in their early teens. A dream had become reality. It was therefore no surprise that their farming evolved from an individual effort to a community initiative. Margaret continued to provide support, visiting the orphans in their villages, and cooking meals to demonstrate how fresh mushrooms could be integrated into their simple meals, providing taste and substance. Margaret brought the community the latest insights into mushroom farming techniques that continually simplified the process 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.

An orphan with the skill to generate an abundance of food, equipped with a certificate from the University and a positive attitude towards life was a much sought after candidate for a wife. Men quickly stepped forward and proposed marriage to these young girls. Since these now teenage girls had neither a father nor parental guidance for years, the opportunity to start a family, even at this early age, 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. Though 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 throughout the community as was originally hoped. Margaret wanted to give the two girls who had not yet married by the age of 14 the opportunity to remain independent and aware of their value to their family and community. However, soon after, one married and only Chido remained single. Margaret and her husband Fanuel then adopted Chido, provided her with a home and the opportunity to go back to school.

The moment Chido arrived at the Tagwira family home in 1998 she was permitted to become a child again. Since 1993, Chido had supported her brother and near-blind grandmother, succeeded in maintaining her brother at school and feeding them all. The mushroom farming had become her great asset. Chido was readmitted into school after five years of absence and  though she had not attended any classes since sixth grade, she quickly caught up with the other children while continuing to develop and improve her mushroom farming skills. Under the guidance of Margaret, Chido acquired detailed knowledge of how to simplify all procedures and learned how to adjust mushroom farming to different substrates and environmental conditions. A genuine farming methodology 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 read her “O” level exams. She demonstrates a tremendous commitment to combine her traditional education with further advanced experiences. The ZERI Foundation has committed to complement the mentorship of Margaret with additional experiences for Chido in mushroom farming around the world. Chido shared from April to June 2007 her mushroom production skills in Manizales, Colombia where coffee waste is the key substrate. Accompanied by Carmenza Jaramillo6 , Chido observed how women cooperatives in the peri-urban zone have succeeded in operating inner city farming and providing nutrients for school lunches to disadvantaged children. This program originally 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 Colombia7. At the same time Chido learned how to preserve and package mushrooms at the Universidad de la Sabana in Bogotá. It is here that the ZERI Foundation initiated the Master Program in Systems Design for Food and Nutrition8.

In the fall of 2007, Chido traveled to Europe and spend a couple weeks at the Paracelsus Clinic of Dr. Thomas Rau. There she undertook an inner journey discovering and learning how to deal with the pains and traumas associated with the early loss of her mom and the regular abuse she was subjected to by family members who rejected the idea to have to deal with the stigma of AIDS in the family. Chido learned about the work of Dr. Ivanka Milenkovic, a well-known 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 magazines9, 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)10 and the UK (Bulmers)11. These experiences will enable Chido to imagine and design her own solutions for communities in Africa.

Chido also partnered with Development Alternatives in India, and trained during 4 weeks a few communities in mushroom farming demonstrating her versatility to work in different cultures and languages, performing the training in such a simplified manner that it takes the mystique out of the cultivation. All these communities are now self-sufficient in protein, without any input from the outside.

Chido has a hands-on approach and is clearly dedicated to reaching out to her community in Zimbabwe. However, now that she has presented her personal and professional experience12 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, and beyond. Chido is prepared to live up to that calling and is committed to refining her skills to thus empower others to achieve what she has been able to do. However, she first wants to start right at home where she is at present training orphans how to achieve food security - with what they have. At a time when the world thinks that Zimbabweans have nothing, she is proving the rest of the world wrong. 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 must support her in her endeavors to stamp poverty and under-nourishment out of Africa.

Margaret Tagwira continues to build up her laboratory and biotechnology expertise with insights now moving toward the area of nutrition and health after obtaining her Masters degree in this academic field. 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. Margaret Tagwira is now pursuing a doctorate in food and nutrition based on her experience with innovative farming practices including mushrooms and amaranth, a corn-like crop rich in essential amino acids. Her portfolio of options to combat hunger soon includes experience with algae, especially spirulina, which are originally from the African continent13. The generative capacity of natural systems based on the five kingdoms of nature14 are proving to be tremendous tools in fighting 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, for both the orphans in Zimbabwe as well as throughout Africa.

Today Chido is working with Kufunda Village in the outskirts of Harare, turning dried grasses and autumn leaves into a substrate for mushroom farming, the local mushrooms that have been part of the Shona culture for centuries. And she works with the support from Caos in the Netherlands with the Karoi Orpanage, securing that some 70 orphans will be inspired and ready to face the world, knowing that each can take of their needs for water, food and health. Chido is pursuing her dream “An orphan teaching Orphans”.

Their commitment demonstrates how solutions for Africa can be found within Africa, with what is already in Africa15. The ZERI Foundation continues to maintain its focus on the basic needs of water, food, health, energy, housing, jobs and education. Exposing Margaret and Chido to pioneering work around the world further is empowering them to become change agents at the grassroots level the African Continent needs so urgently. The ZERI Foundation feels privileged to have been a catalyst in this critical process.

A DVD with a personal testimony of Chido produced by Kenyan Television is available over the Marion Institute www.marioninstitute.org. All proceeds from the sales of this video will go to further support the training of Chido and the programs to expand this effort throughout Africa under the supervision of Margaret Tagwira.

Reforestation: Learn how a community in Colombia is blazing a new trail in the way we view sustainable development. Las Gaviotas is expanding their 8,000 hectare reforestation project to encompass 6.3 million hectares, creating jobs, revenue and improved environmental conditions. Learn more...  

MOVE IT! - The ZERI Learning initiative brings science and emotions together in one program. See how children in the USA learn basic sciences while developing their emotional skills thanks to the dancing program of Amelia Terrapin based on Gunter's Fables.
Inspired by Gunter's Fables, children enjoy the energy, expression and creativity guided by the choreography of Amelia Terrapin. Children learn in a systemic way, building insights in science, while strengthening their emotional intelligence.
Without going through the verbal explanation, nor the details of the science, the children become acquainted with the depth of science and emotions through dance.
To find out more visit: http://www.mobiusmoves.com/mobiuspast.html.
THE POWER OF SYSTEM DESIGN - A doctoral lecture presented by Gunter Pauli on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piH8lIZDwLQ
WISDOM FOR THE FUTURE - Gunter Pauli lecture to University of Torino, Italy:   http://www.systemsdesign.polito.it/lessons.htm