Honouring Indigenous Wisdom 

Dr Witness Kozanayi’s educational journey speaks of a scholar whose tenacious curiosity and intellect refused every discouragement. School closures during Zimbabwe’s war of liberation meant he was only able to enrol for Grade One at the age of 11. Owing to family commitments and the challenges of living in Zimbabwe, Dr Kozanayi took eight years to complete his PhD in Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Today he works at the Marondera University of Agricultural Science and Technology as a Senior Lecturer and Chairperson of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Management. His dissertation on the Baobab tree resulted in the (regulated) commercialisation of Baobab Fruits and the improvement of the livelihoods of people in the marginal areas where these resources are found.

“The baobab tree is dear to the hearts of the people of my community due to its various uses – consumable and non-consumable. It’s also the subject of songs, folklore and idioms. Yet, like the local people’s knowledge system, until the 2000s, when commercial harvesting started, the baobab was not readily acknowledged as an important tree by government authorities.”

Dr Kozanayi’s dissertation sought to bridge indigenous knowledge and State’s information in the hope that shared resource governance could support local people’s livelihoods and the environment.

Ties with his alma mater continue to be strong and Dr Kozanayi now works in partnership with UCT on the “Seed and Knowledge Initiative” (SKI) programme. This 12-year regional programme advances agroecology in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Malawi and Zambia. His work entails establishing and managing a network of universities, academics and researchers who work in the agroecology space to develop scholarship on agroecology. The programme supports farmers to own traditional seed and building on that develop food products and production mechanisms that will enable local communities to exercise food and nutrition sovereignty. Dr Kozanayi works closely with the small-holder farmers as they embark on farmer led research, and advocate for policies that will enable food system transformation.

Dr Kozanayi is also part of a cohort of 52 international researchers working on the “Resilient Rules” project managed by the University of Zaragoza, Spain, focusing on agricultural communities from across the globe. The project explores how agricultural communities govern shared resources.