The Sunday News
Vincent Gono
THE southern parts of the country, particularly Matabeleland South Province and parts of Masvingo are famed for mopane forests and when the rains are good, thousands of people descend there to harvest mopane worms (imbrassia belina) known in Ndebele as amacimbi, madora in Shona and mahonja in Kalanga for consumption and for commercial purposes.
In a good season people travel from as far as Lower Gweru, Bulawayo, Harare, Nkayi, Beitbridge, Plumtree, Masvingo and Gwanda among other places to catch the highly nutritious mopane worms.
The delicacy which is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild due to over-harvesting and deforestation in the southern parts of the country occurs naturally and is a source of a stampede from all corners of the country.
And because they occur in the wild those that will be harvesting them usually set up camps in the forests where they will be moving from place to place as they will be there for weeks.
Interestingly, the rush for amacimbi is usually received as a fertile opportunity to make money by those that are entrepreneurial.
Food and clothes vendors find their way into the forests as well where they also set up vending stalls while reports of those in the oldest profession visiting and setting up bases in the bundu are common despite the venture being carried out by women in most cases with men coming to buy.
On the down side there are also stories that snakes particularly the black mamba has its fair share of victims from some of the harvesters as it also feeds on amacimbi.
A visit to the area by the Sunday News confirmed that camps have indeed been set up in the forest where people of all ages and from all over flock to villages such as Hantinya approximately 10 kilometres from Gwanda.
Some were locals who were busy catching the mopane worms with some already drying them up in preparation for business. The camp sites are however, a health hazard as there are no ablution facilities with the harvesters using the same bush where they pick the delicacy.
Farm owners have also been having a torrid time controlling the high number of people visiting their farms where the mopane worms are in abundance with complaints that some are cutting down trees.
“I am a farm owner and a lot of people are coming in their numbers on a daily basis to catch amacimbi. With the large number of people we have had no plan but to make everyone who comes here to pay. They pay using amacimbi when they have been dried up and it depends with how many bags they would have managed to pick,” said a farm owner Mr Sifanjani Moyo popularly known as Bhebhe who owns a farm around Collen Bawn.
He said it was bad that some of the harvesters were doing it with no sense of tomorrow while some were damaging the farms’ perimeter fence hence the fee they were charging them.
He said there were more than 500 people at his farm and some were catching immature mopane worms, thereby disturbing their life cycle.
Mr Barnabas Mawire, a sustainable forest management specialist confirmed that there was a high risk that the mopane worms might face extinction if no sustainable methods were employed in their harvesting.
He said those that were cutting down the trees should be guided by the statement that no mopane trees, no mopane worms.
“We learnt of the rush and as in gold rush people flock in from different parts of the country to harvest the mopane worms for consumption and for commercial purposes. They are a very rich source of protein and have been sustaining a number of rural and town families.
“It is however, sad that we have among our people those who catch the delicacy without thinking about tomorrow. The issue of deforestation where others cut down the trees to bring down amacimbi within their reach presents a headache to environmentalists because it is seriously decimating the mopane tree species.
“But people should know that there will be no mopane worms without the mopane trees, so the best they can do is to protect the tree species from extinction. There should be a deliberate effort for sustainability and those who would have visited should also not clash with the local communities who are more experienced in their harvesting,” said Mr Mawire.
He said reports of snake bites were caused by an upset in the natural balance of the ecosystem where over-harvesting of the mopane worms which some snakes feed on creates a situation where the snakes end up stampeding for the worms with people.
Mr Mawire said deforestation and veld fires were capable of eliminating amacimbi from the face of the communities and urged people to guard jealously against their extinction as they were capable of sustaining families as an income generating venture.
It was his submission that local authorities in whose areas there were mopane worms should spell out the conditions and enforce by-laws that govern the harvest amacimbi so that there was a semblance of order and sustainability in their harvest.
“Those that have done cost benefit analysis have found out that the venture is quite profitable and I think it makes economic sense that the Government takes it a gear up and facilitate for the creation of a processing and packaging plant for the creation of jobs as well as a hygienic environment. If that is done standards can also be set where people will not harvest those that are not mature, thereby breaking their development cycle.
“It will also protect the environment as there will be regulation in cutting down of trees for firewood used for processing the mopane worms,” he added.
Some of the harvesters interviewed revealed that the numbers being harvested were increasing on a yearly basis in Gwanda and Mwenezi districts.
“The rains came at a time when we had lost hope but here we are selling our harvest like never before. We came here during Easter holiday and there were more people than there are now. The high number of people clearly shows how helpful amacimbi are in our societies at large. I managed to harvest over four buckets which are already drying up. We really hope responsible authorities will make sure this wealth benefits the communities where there are found mostly,” said Mr Dominic Sibanda at Hantinya campsite.
An unemployed youth who was operating from a temporary camp that had been set up just out outside Collen Bawn said the worms would help a lot as he was the breadwinner in his family.
“This is easy money and one would wish it comes more than once or twice a year. This would greatly assist us the unemployed. With the money I will get from the mopane worms, I will be able to pay for my siblings’ school fees next term and that is a big relief. It’s better than gold panning which is very risky.
“We came as a whole family to maximise on our harvest and we have been exchanging some for clothing from those that are selling bales of clothes from Bulawayo and Gwanda,” said a 22-year-old Mthandazo Moyo.
He said reports of snake bites were rampant in the farms where some have fallen victim to black mambas that also feed on amacimbi.
Mrs Miriam Marange from Zvishavane, who was at the campsite to catch and buy the mopane worms, said the prices were still negotiable as the product was still abundant. “
“I came here to buy but as of now not all of them have dried so I have camped and I am also catching in the meantime. We usually buy for about $25 for a 20-litre bucket but as has been the case when they run out, the price will sky-rocket to between $40 and $60. Last year I came and bought over 400 kilogrammes as there were in abundance and I am hoping for the same target,” said Marange.
However, the villagers have bemoaned the influx of people from all over the country in the campsites, saying the set up has attracted ladies of the night who were spreading immoral activities among their children.
“Every time before we start harvesting the mopane worms, people from all over the country would have descended on these places and this is not good at all. They practice deforestation because it does not affect them in the near future but we are left with the problems here.
“We hope at one point there will become human enough and be grateful to us for accepting them in our area, otherwise we will end up fighting them,” said a MaDlodlo, who was camping at Insindi Village.
“We understand the concerns by the villagers but they should understand that we also want to better our lives and we can’t miss out on catching these worms, they have been an honest source of income and food for our families,” said a lady from Lower Gweru.
