Indigenous Knowledge, Food (in) Security and Climate Change: A Case Study of Bota Reshupa (Herbal Porridge) Among the Ndau of South-Eastern Zimbabwe

This chapter examines how indigenous knowledge systems from the Ndau people could be used to ensure food security in the face of climate change effects. The depletion of herbs that the Ndau utilised to increase not just their immunity but also food security made it necessary to undertake this study. This chapter is a component of a qualitative study conducted as part of my PhD studies among the Ndau people of Chipinge in southeast Zimbabwe. Data was collected using key informant interviews and focus groups. Indigenous knowledge systems were used to thematically analyse the data. One of the study’s findings was that the local people bemoaned the extinction of some of the herbal shrubs used in the preparation of bota reshupa due to persistent droughts caused by climate change. This has threatened people’s health and food security safety valves, thereby putting the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals 2, 3 and 13 into jeopardy. The study recommends that although forests that harbour herbal shrubs essential for the preparation of bota reshupa are under threat from climate change, the Ndau indigenous knowledge systems’ practitioners can still employ taboos to ensure the protection and maintenance of forests. Where this is no longer feasible, the establishment of herbal gardens of the essential ingredients of bota reshupa can be tried. The major conclusion that the chapter is making is that there is urgent need to document such beliefs and practices as a means to mitigate climate change and food insecurity in African communities.