Project Title: Past Seeds for Resilient Food Futures
Research Title: Exploring Africa’s past non-scientific knowledge systems, cultures and ontologies on food-health-environment futures.
Africa and Zimbabwe’s past is a repository of seeds (human-nature cultures, philosophies, knowledge, practices, initiatives) central to socio ecological systems sustainability. These have been historically fragmented by the colonial turn and present industrialization regimes. Without their comprehensive documentation, we cannot test and determine their resilience potentialities in a polycrisis world needing new thinking and doing. I seek to create a modernized, open-access repository of these seeds, showcase their modern value, and avert their continued loss.
Saymore Ngonidzashe Kativu (Ngoni) founded Zarawi Trust, its five founding initiatives and presides over its research initiative – The Nexus Think Tank. He is a youth convener, organizer and leading interlocutor on natural resources governance, climate change, and sustainable, rural socioeconomic development. Kativu founded and convenes, embedded in Zarawi Trust, an open network called YESALA – Young Enterprising Sustainability and Agricultural Leaders in Africa. He has partnered with and served the youth demographic in this and several other capacities with several organizations and business entities including Zadaega Inc (Pvt) Ltd), the Rural Enterprise Trust of Zimbabwe, Mutoko Green Projects (business), the Climate Social Science Network (research) and the Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust (civic leadership) and now the Omega Resilience Awards Africa Fellowship. Kativu is a PhD researcher (Sociology) with the German Institute of Development and Sustainability, studying science futures and agricultural knowledge systems in rural Africa’s agricultural growth corridors.
It takes a village to raise a child, it takes the child(ren) for a village to evolve and thrive. ORA-A fellowship for me represents spaces for co-evolution of Africa and its children redefining what resilience means, on their terms.