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The community of Shashe in the central Masvingo province of Zimbabwe is home to 500 farming families. The agricultural calendar here is marked by four seasonal ceremonies and as well as many other rituals that celebrate the relationship of soil and water, that is key to their food sovereignty. 

Shashe leader, Nelson Mudzingwa, says, “The soil is very important because every living organism is dependent on it. We were made of soil, live in the soil and walk on the soil. We build on the soil and we farm in the soil, and when we die we shall be returned to the soil. We are soil.”  Water is also essential as “it is the blood of the soil and must flow within it, not above it. A living soil should be moist with life in it, allowing germination of plants and their growth. In our bodies water is also important as well as in all other living things that respire or transpire”.

Join Nelson Mudzwinga, La Via Campesina General Coordinator, Elizabeth Mpofu and Vongai Dube to talk about the spiritual beliefs that guide their farming practices.