In November 2019, the Prolinnova Oversight Group (POG) approved the application of a multistakeholder group in Zimbabwe to be recognised as a Country Platform (CP) in the Prolinnova Community of Practice.
The group includes people from the network PELUM (Participatory Ecological Land Use Management) Zimbabwe, the NGO Cluster Agriculture Development Services (CADS), the NGO The Phiri Award (named after the renowned farmer innovator in water harvesting and ecological farming, Zephaniah Phiri), the Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers Forum (ZIMSOFF) and the Centre for Applied Social Sciences (CASS) at the University of Zimbabwe. The host organisation of the CP is PELUM–Zimbabwe; the coordinator is Gertrude Pswarayi-Jabson (pelumzim@gmail.com).
The group wants to start small and grow organically rather than expanding quickly to include many people who may not share its vision. In the coming months, it plans to develop its strategy for the CP, approach potential partners in the governmental and private sectors, and start implementing joint activities to promote farmer-led joint experimentation and innovation.
For information about the National Steering Committee, see the Prolinnova–Zimbabwe webpage.
