Women’s utilisation of indigenous fruits for food security and nutrition among the Varemba in Mberengwa District, Zimbabwe

Abstract

This article explores women’s utilisation of indigenous fruits for food security and nutrition in Zimbabwe, using the Varemba in the Mberengwa district as a case study. Food insecurity is one of the causes of conflict and disharmony in marriages and families in Zimbabwe. The United States’ Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development acknowledges the role that enhancing rural livelihoods, nutrition and food security plays in managing conflict. The data were collected from an empirical study which was conducted in the Mberengwa district in Zimbabwe. The research participants were purposively sampled. A qualitative research methodology was adopted where data were solicited from the Varemba women who utilise various indigenous fruits to ensure household food and nutrition security to resolve conflicts. The article foregrounds the pivotal role played by Varemba women in alleviating hunger by meeting the food and nutrition needs of their families through utilising indigenous fruits. Furthermore, the research findings reflect that the Varemba women do not merely use indigenous fruits as a source of food, but instead, these fruits are used as a symbol of peace, a mediation tool and as an economic buffer. The article, therefore, argues that by utilising indigenous fruits, Varemba women succeed in ensuring household food security and nutrition, hunger and poverty alleviation (SDGs 1 and 2) and resolving related marital conflicts within their families and societies. The study reflects how Varemba women transition from implicitly using indigenous fruits for survival or as a source of food to explicitly leveraging them as mediation, economic and food security tools.
Contribution: This study contributed to SDG1 (Zero Poverty) and SDG2 (Zero Hunger) by indicating how Varemba women utilise indigenous fruits to improve food security and reduce household poverty. The study reflects how food security mitigates marital conflicts and creates harmonious families.