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Paper short abstract:

This paper explores women's resistance and role in preserving traditional seeds in Zimbabwe while countering industrialized systems; the challenges from colonial legacies and neoliberalism and the interplay between tradition and modernity, focusing on the Chikukwa community.

Paper long abstract:

This paper delves into the pivotal role of women's differential power within local seed systems in countering the encroachment of industrialised seed systems in Zimbabwe and preserving traditional seeds and food cultures. Traditional seeds have faced erosion since colonial times, and contemporary challenges have emerged from policies influenced by colonial legacies, neoliberalism, and the dominance of developmental and productivist discourses. Focusing on the Chikukwa community in the eastern highlands through a participatory ethnographic approach rooted in Feminist Political Ecology and African feminisms, this study reveals that women, leveraging their expert local seed knowledge and predominant control over local seed systems, have conserved and transmitted traditional foodways across generations through embodied practices. These practices thrive within robust social relationships and networks, nurturing an invisible local economy for traditional food, seeds, and knowledge sharing.

Women's resistance is further evidenced in their steadfast cultivation of local seeds and informal seed exchanges. Their commitment to traditional spiritualities and rituals amid the prevalence of Christianity also contributes to seed preservation. Nevertheless, women's formidable positions within local seed systems face threats from forces advocating for adopting industrialised seeds and the criminalisation of traditional seed systems. Driven by philanthropic, international, and capitalist institutions and supported by gender discourse promoting women's involvement in industrial food landscapes, these pressures endanger traditional food cultures and women's roles in local seed systems. This jeopardises traditional foodways and the power dynamics within local seed systems, underscoring the intricate interplay between tradition and modernity in the realm of seed conservation and food sovereignty.