JUNE 2024
WORKING TOWARDS A TRULY JUST, HEALTHY AND PEACEFUL WORLD
RENEWAL
A SPRING MOMENT
BY MAYERLY DIAZ
In Colombia, ILSA works primarily with women from marginalized communities to develop economic empowerment. PWRDF partnered with ILSA on a four-year project to build agricultural skills and economic independence of women in communities affected by climate change and mining activity.The partnership began in 2019 with a three-year project, and was renewed with a four-year project that will run until October 2026. For this issue of Under the Sun, ILSA staff member Mayerly Diaz reflects on the theme of renewal in ILSA’s work and in Colombia in general.This reflection has been translated from Spanish.
RENEWING LAND AND LIVELIHOODS
A Corn plants are layered with thick grass mulch to preserve moisture amid the drought.
PWRDF partner TSURO Trust restores hope in Zimbabwe BY JACKIE KOSTER, DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS AND PARTNERSHIPS
T
HE scars are visible. Deep gullies. Deforested hills. Washed out roads. Five years after Cyclone Idai, the scars are still visible. It hit Chimanimani, Zimbabwe with unprecedented force. From March 14 to 17 the cyclone’s heavy winds and sustained rainfall triggered landslides and flash floods. But the scars go beyond the landscape. The storm claimed 300 lives, displaced thousands and impacted the livelihoods of over half the population of Chimanimani District. Livelihoods of people like Mercy Gwegweni. Gwegweni has lived in Zandonyi village since marrying her husband 29 years ago. Together they raised their three children in the village. Though it is remote, it was well connected to nearby centres with good access to schools and health care. But Idai’s flash floods washed out bridges and left many road impassible. The nearest clinic is now a 15 km walk. And Gwegweni is unable to get her tomatoes, once a valuable cash-crop, to market. COVID worsened the situation. Tourism, already badly affected by the cyclone, all but disappeared in 2020. To make money to buy household essentials some people turned to gold mining. The destruction caused by Idai opened up land to artisanal mining. While mining policies are in place enforcement was limited. Many miners used
Mercy Gwegweni’s livelihood was destroyed by Cyclone Idai in 2019, but with help from TSURO Trust, she is recovering. chemicals such as mercury and cyanide to separate gold from the ore and soil. This contaminated by-product was freely released into rivers and water catchments creating highly toxic water for those living downstream. This has led to a sharp increase in cyanide poisoning. Driving through the winding roads of hilly Chimanimani it is easy to understand why tourists would be attracted to the beautiful landscapes. The hilly terrain
is marked with tall eucalypts trees and waterfalls. This unique biosphere represents 30% of Zimbabwe’s biodiversity and is home to 74 species of plants and birds that are only found here. The events of the last five years have demonstrated the fragility of this landscape and the livelihoods that depend on it. PWRDF’s partner, TRUSO Trust, has been working in Chimanimani for more than 20 years. Founded by farmers coming together to form cooperatives and learn new, sustainable agricultural techniques, TSURO Trust has long been a champion for preserving the unique eco-system of Chimanimani. A new three-year project has begun to renew and preserve this unique landscape. Working in partnership with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and with support from Global Affairs Canada, the project introduces nature-based solutions (NBS) that aim to protect, manage and restore ecosystems as well as address societal challenges, such as food security. As Roseline Mukonoweshuro, TSURO’s Nature + Project Manager explains, “It isn’t about choosing livelihoods or the environment but, instead, choosing livelihoods and the environment.” Jackie Koster, PWRDF’s Director of Programs and Partnerships, had the opportunity to see the work of TSURO Trust with a representative from Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Alder Aristilde.
www.pwrdf.org
T ILSA, we fully support the spirit and idea of cycle renewal. We believe that in Colombia, we are in a “spring” moment because new spaces for social transformation are opening with the current government. There are a series of transitions underway in the public policies of this government and for the first time, social movements find themselves included in some way in the National Development Plan, in the local plans and, of course, in the aspirations and demands of peasant women and environmentalists who are part of the national development plan. They defend strategic and important territories such as the Pisba moorland and they are also reflected in the policies of the National Development Plan. We read this as a spring moment. If we focus on the process supported by PWRDF, the concept of renewal is evidenced first in renewing discussions by women associates – some long-standing, some new to the process, while others have left; this has allowed a constant intergenerational exchange of knowledge and leadership, or what they call intergenerational relay. Normally the processes are of young or old, but in this process, there has been a mixing of generations. There has also been a renewal of structural ideas that transform immediate and future realities in two ways, that is, the thoughts and practices that older women have been able to leave as a legacy and the innovative or novel contributions that young women contribute. This is a safe space that recognizes both ancestral and novel contributions, achieving a key combination for transformation and with it, community renewal in favour of common goals. At ILSA, we continue weaving this alliance, from what we can contribute to renewing relationships with the environment, as well as implementing practices which transform bad relationships with nature and ecosystems that have generated the global environmental crisis that is occurring. Without a doubt, the women who are direct beneficiaries are doing many things for the recovery of the territory, for the Páramos and for a more productive and sustainable relationship with the ecosystem.
Read a Q&A with members of ILSA on page 3.