Traditional homegardens and rural livelihoods in Nhema, Zimbabwe: a sustainable agroforestry system

Abstract

This paper analyzes data on the contribution of homegardens to the livelihoods of rural people in Nhema communal area, Zimbabwe. Variables analyzed were plant use and diversity, homegarden input, benefit, and income generation. Data were collected through plant inventories, direct observations, semi-structured and open-ended questionnaires, and interviews. A total of 69 plant species were identified as being important to local livelihoods, either for domestic use or for trading in the local market. Tubers, vegetables, and fruit trees were the most important plant use categories. Food production was found to be the primary function of homegardens, almost all of them being subsistence production systems. Homegardens were an important occupation for rural people, with an average labor investment of 48 h per family per month. Although homegarden production provides a small source of income, it is particularly important for poor households to overcome adversity and meet basic needs. The results of this study demonstrate that properly managed homegardens can improve people's livelihoods and quality of life, reduce poverty, and foster economic growth into the future on a sustainable basis. Some homegardens have extensive collections of plant biodiversity, hence revealing the potential of homegardens in conserving useful plants.

Keywords:

• homegardens
• rural livelihoods
• species diversity
• Zimbabwe

Introduction

The significance of homegardens to rural livelihoods is well appreciated throughout the world (Fernandes and Nair 1986; Soemarwoto 1987; Torquebiau 1992; Jose and Shanmugaratnam 1993; Nair 2006), including southern Africa (Allen 1990; Musvoto and Campbell 1995; Price and Campbell 1998; Chivaura-Mususa et al. 2000; High and Shackleton 2000; Paumgarten et al. 2005; Shackleton et al. 2008). The homegarden has been described as an important social and economic unit of rural households, from which a diverse and stable supply of economic products and benefits are derived (Christanty 1990; Campbell et al. 1991; Shackleton et al. 2008). Plant products harvested from homegardens improve the family's nutritional status, health, and food security. Some of the plant products are sold in local and regional markets, thus improving the family's financial status. The marketing of homegarden products by rural households and small-scale farmers has been identified as a potential means of poverty alleviation (Garrity 2004; Shackleton et al. 2008). A homegarden is, therefore, part of a household livelihood strategy and has gained prominence as a natural asset through which sustainable use of resources, particularly for the livelihoods of the poor, may be achieved. Homestead gardening and agroforestry systems provide an important contribution to sustainable agricultural production because of their potential to meet economic, social, ecological, and institutional conditions for sustainable livelihoods (Nair 2006). Sustainable livelihoods comprise the capabilities, assets (including both material and social resources), and activities required to achieve a means of livelihood. A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with, and recover from, stresses and shocks and maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets both now and in the future, while not undermining the natural resource base (Ellis 2000; Dalal-Clayton et al. 2003). Although this has been recognized in the home gardening literature, interdisciplinary studies addressing these issues are few, particularly in southern Africa (Shackleton et al. 2008).

Continued cultivation and use of homegardens over the past millennium has played a key role in successful achievement of sustainable livelihoods. Plants grown in homegardens and agricultural fields provide rural families with income, nutritious vegetables, animal feed, etc. This helps communities to achieve self-sufficiency. The rural poor were described by Chambers (1997) as ‘foxes’ involved in many different enterprises through which they cobble together a livelihood, doing different things at different seasons. Researchers have much to learn from the insights of local people who are acknowledged within their own communities as experts on local plants (Cunningham 2001). In spite of the inherent limitations of many such traditional agroforestry systems, and the external and internal pressures to which they are subjected, traditional homegardens have remained not only viable but also active in many parts of the world. Traditional agroforestry systems involve elaborate social, technological and economic mechanisms to safeguard plant resources. It is within this context that we have evaluated the contribution of homegardens to the livelihoods of Nhema communal area households, analyzing socioeconomic aspects of the system and also evaluating the system's ecological stability, productivity, and sustainability. For most parts of Zimbabwe, plant species diversity in homegardens is not adequately documented, although there have been a few attempts to document uses of trees (e.g., Gumbo et al. 1989; Campbell et al. 1991; Grundy et al. 1993; Musvoto and Campbell 1995; Price and Campbell 1998; Chivaura-Mususa et al. 2000). This paper attempts to fill some of gaps in knowledge about diversity of plant species in homegardens and the context in which these plants are used in rural livelihoods.

Study area

This paper is based on a case study in Nhema communal area, Midlands Province in Natural Region III, a semi-intensive agricultural region (Vincent and Thomas 1961). The Nhema communal area is about 1200 m above sea level, with a mean rainfall of 700 mm, concentrated in the rainy season from November to March. In the hottest month, October, the mean temperature is 29°C, and in the coldest month, July, the mean temperature is 9°C. Severe mid-season dry spells and an unreliable start to the rainy season make the area marginal for maize, tobacco, and cotton. Soils are largely derived from granitic–gneissic rocks, giving rise to predominantly sandy soils, with a low water-holding capacity, low fertility, low pH, and deficiencies in nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur (Grant 1981). The most extensive vegetation type is drier miombo woodland (White 1983; Campbell 1996), in which Brachystegia spiciformis and Julbernardia globiflora are dominant in terms of basal area. Irrigation plays an important role in sustaining crop production.

The majority of Nhema communal area inhabitants generate their livelihood through a mixture of agricultural activities centred on crop and livestock enterprises. The poorest families rely heavily on the natural environment for resources such as food, medicine, construction material, etc. Apart from use by individual households, these resources are also sold to raise cash income. Their agricultural practices are essentially subsistence in nature, with land and livestock being the primary household assets. Other principal assets include plows, ox-drawn carts, wheelbarrows, axes, hoes, etc. Production is oriented towards both subsistence needs as well as market income. The main agricultural products in the area are maize and groundnuts. Nhema communal area lacks basic infrastructure such as tarred roads, piped water, and electricity is available to only 5% of households. There are no official population data at ward level, but rough calculations for this research suggest a population density of 28 people per km².

The case study focused on two types of homegarden: homefields or homesites (after Campbell et al. 1991; Price and Campbell 1998) and garden plots. A homefield is defined as the cropping area directly adjacent to a homestead, commonly referred to as an orchard. Garden plots are much smaller than major fields, often less than 1 ha, and usually not near homes, rather, they are located near water sources. Land in Nhema communal area is formally allocated to male household heads for: (1) house building; (2) main or crop fields, where most staple and cash crops are grown; and (3) garden plots, mainly on the edge of a river, dam or dambo, where various crops can be grown throughout the year. However, the Natural Resources Act of 1941 prohibits cultivation within 30 m of a riverbank, stream, dam, or dambo. Land allocation for main fields, garden plots, and homesteads is a community decision, but once allocated, the activities on these plots are no longer controlled by the community but by individual households. On main fields, households grow cereals and pulses (maize, groundnut, roundnut, cowpea, and rapoko). Around homes, they plant fruit trees, medicinal plants, shade trees, windbreaks, hedging, and ornamental plants. In some instances, households have small gardens near the homestead that are specifically for vegetable production. These vegetable gardens are irrigated with kitchen wastewater or water from wells used for domestic water supply. These are common in communities where access to rivers and dams is limited.

It is customary for households to receive land for their homestead and main fields from the kraal head. At a later stage, they are allocated a garden plot. Garden plots are allocated to individual households or may be communally owned. A communally owned garden plot, often referred to as community garden, is maintained by a group of households, who decide as a group what to grow, when to grow and to harvest. Garden plots are protected from animals by brushwood fences, nets, or barbed-wire fences, and sometimes by live fencing. Garden plots in Nhema communal area are cultivated in both dry and wet seasons. They use simple irrigation from dams, rivers, and hand-dug wells. The water table in many of these wells is within 2 m of the surface. Homegardens in Nhema communal area complement the main fields in the overall food production system (Soemarwoto 1987; Wiersum 2006) of individual household requirements.

Methodology

Information on 18 households and their homegardens was complied from February to December 2006. Data were collected over both the wet and dry seasons of 2006. The households were selected using wealth ranking (Grandin 1988) to ensure that different wealth categories were represented in the study. A further subset of five households was chosen to determine the importance of homegardens in Nhema communal area. A total of 116 people participated in this study. Through household interviews, data were collected on physical and socioeconomic characteristics of homegardens and households. The process involved close consultation with household members in information sharing, data gathering, and data compilation. Complete inventories were carried out to document plant diversity and plant uses. Plant specimens were collected from the homegardens when encountered for the first time and again when they were flowering or fruiting, for easy identification. The collected plant specimens were identified at the National Herbarium, Harare (SRGH, abbreviations according to Holmgren and Holmgren (2004), where voucher specimens were deposited. Plants used were categorized according to types identified by the households. These included: building material, cereal, fruit, medicinal plants, oil crops, ornamentals, tubers, vegetables, and others with miscellaneous uses. The households were asked to indicate the amount of each plant resource they used or marketed.

This participatory approach, although difficult to quantify, provides a valuable insight into the multiple meanings, dimensions, and experiences with traditional agroforestry systems. It captures information that standard plant use methods are likely to miss. Open-ended methods, such as unstructured interviews and discussion groups, allow the emergence of issues and dimensions that are important to the community but not necessarily known to the researcher, thus allowing unanticipated themes to be explored by the interviewer (Miles and Huberman 1994). The research used both primary and secondary methods of data collection. The data were organized and analyzed with the SPSS program (Norusis 1988; SPSS Inc., 1999). Because much of the data collected in this study was descriptive in nature, data were explained directly. Interview data were coded and sorted into themes. Inconsistencies and unique statements were noted and given particular attention. This was achieved by extensive preliminary participatory appraisal analysis on household livelihoods.

Results and discussion

Plant uses

A total of 69 plant species with nine different main uses were identified (Table 1): vegetables (20%), building, timber, firewood, and construction material (18%), fruit trees (18%), ornamentals, hedging and shade plants (18%), medicinal plants (11%), cereals (6%), tubers (3%), oil crops (3%), and others with miscellaneous uses (3%). Previous research on trees in Zimbabwe also showed a wide range of uses, indicating that households have a broad knowledge of trees and their uses (Grundy et al. 1993). Chivaura-Mususa et al. (2000) examined the smallholder sector in Zimbabwe and the value of mature trees to this sector, showing that trees were valued for provision of fruit, shade, medicine, fodder, and wood. However, the list of medicinal plants in this study is far from complete. The households did not want to indicate medicinal plants for many reasons, the major reason being the traditional belief that if they tell somebody, the plants might lose their effectiveness and also because they fear they may be misused. Medicinal value is one of the most important plant use categories for Nhema communal area households. Inhabitants are highly dependent on traditional medicines because modern medicines are unavailable or unaffordable for most of the inhabitants. For example, the use of a mixture of Citrus limon fruit, Eucalyptus sp. leaves and Psidium guajava leaves as treatment for flu and fever was found to be widespread in Nhema communal area.

Table 1. Plant species diversity and use in Nhema communal area, Zimbabwe

			USE
Species name	Common name	Family	C	F	M	R	O	V	Or	B	Ot	Fr
Abelmoschus esculentus	Okra	Malvaceae						x				67
Agave americana		Agavaceae							x	x		11
Agave sisalana	Sisal	Agavaceae							x	x		22
Allium cepa	Onion	Alliaceae						x				100
Acacia nilotica	Acacia	Fabaceae								x		11
Acacia sp.	Acacia	Fabaceae							x	x		17
Aloe sp.	Aloe	Aloaceae			x				x			28
Arachis hypogea	Ground nut	Fabaceae					x					22
Azanza gackeana	Tree hibiscus	Malvaceae		x								6
Berchemia discolor		Rhamnaceae		x						x		11
Brassica juncea	Tsunga	Brassicaceae						x				78
Brassica oleracea	Cabbage	Brassicaceae						x				94
Brassica rapa	Oilseed rape	Brassicaceae						x				94
Canna indica	Canna	Cannaceae							x			17
Capscum frutescens	Pepper	Solanaceae						x				83
Carica papaya	Pawpaw	Caricaceae		x								39
Catharanthus roseus	Perriwinkle	Apocynaceae			x				x			33
Citrillus lanatus	Water melon	Cucurbitaceae						x				67
Citrus limon	Lemon	Rutaceae		x	x							78
Citrus sinensis	Orange	Rutaceae		x								89
Cloeme gynandra	Spider flower	Capparidaceae						x				78
Combretum imberbe		Combretaceae								x		22
Combretum molle		Combretaceae								x		17
Commiphora sp.		Burseraceae								x		22
Corchorus olitorium		Tiliaceae						x				61
Cucumis maxima	Pumpkin	Cucurbitaceae						x				94
Cucumis metuliferus	Watermelon	Cucurbitaceae						x				67
Cucumis sativus	Cucumber	Cucurbitaceae						x				78
Daucus carota	Carrot	Apiaceae				x						83
Diospyros mespiliformis		Ebenaceae		x						x		22
Eleusine coracana	Rapoko	Poacae	x									11
Eucalyptus sp.	Eucalyptus	Myrtaceae			x				x	x		33
Euphorbia ingens	Euphorbia	Euphorbiaceae							x			11
Euphorbia tirucalii		Euphorbiaceae							x	x		17
Ipomoea batatas	Sweet potato	Convolvulaceae				x						100
Jatropha curcas	Physic nut	Euphorbiaceae					x					11
Kirkia acuminata		Simaroubaceae									x	11
Lagenaria siceraria	Bottle gourd	Cucurbitaceae						x				83
Lantana camara	Lantana	Verbenaceae		x					x			17
Lycopersicon esculentum	Tomato	Solanaceae						x				100
Mangifera indica	Mango	Anacardiaceae		x	x				x	x		100
Melia azedarach	Syringa	Meliaceae							x			17
Moringa oleifera	Moringa	Moringaceae			x			x	x			89
Morus alba	Mulberry	Moraceae		x								67
Musa paradisiaca	Banana	Musaceae		x								67
Nerium oleander	Oleander	Apocynaceae							x			17
Nicotiana tobacum	Tobacco	Solanaceae			x				x			11
Opuntia ficus-indica	Prickly pear	Cactaceae		x					x	x		17
Oryza sativa	Rice	Poaceae	x									33
Parinari curatellifolia		Chrysobalanaceae							x	x	x	17
Pennisetum glaucum	Pearl millet	Poaceae	x									33
Persea americana	Avocado	Lauraceae		x								33
Phaseolus vulgaris	Bean	Fabaceae						x				89
Pisum sativum	Pea	Fabaceae						x				78
Prunus persica	Peach	Rosaceae		x	x							83
Psidium guajava	Guava	Myrtaceae		x	x							94
Ricinus communis	Castor oil	Euphorbiaceae			x		x					17
Saccharum officinarum	Sugar cane	Poaceae									x	50
Sclerocarya birrea	Marula	Anacardiaceae		x	x				x	x		39
Solanum sp.		Solanaceae						x				17
Solanum tuberosum	Potato	Solanaceae				x						89
Sorghum bicolor	Sorghum	Poaceae	x									67
Strychnos cocculoides	Monkey orange	Loganiaceae		x						x		22
Strychnos spinosa		Loganiaceae		x						x		17
Terminalia sericea	Teak	Combretaceae								x		22
Triticum aestivum	Wheat	Poaceae	x									6
Uapaca kirkiana		Euphorbiaceae										17
Vigna unguiculata	Cowpea	Fabaceae						x				89
Zea mays	Maize	Poaceae	x									100
Abbreviations: Uses: C = Cereal, F = Fruit, M = Medicinal, R = Tuber, O = Oil crop, V = Vegetable, Or = Ornamental, B = Building material, Ot = Other uses. Fr = Frequency (% of homegardens in which the species are found out of 18).

The plants were taxonomically diverse, distributed among 35 families and 58 genera (Table 2), although 41% of useful plant species belong to only five families (Table 3). These families are among the largest and most economically important sources of food (e.g., Fabaceae and Poaceae, to which most cereals belong), fruit, firewood, timber, and medicine. Plants present in at least 89% of the homegardens included: food plants – Allium cepa (onion), Brassica oleracea (cabbage), B. rapa (oilseed rape), Cucumis maxima (pumpkin), Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato), Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato) Moringa oleifera (moringa), Phaseolus vulgaris (bean), Solanum tuberosum (potato), Vigna unguiculata (cow pea), and Zea mays (maize); fruit trees – Citrus sinensis (orange), Mangifera indica (mango), and Psidium guajava (guava). Moringa was popular as both a vegetable and a medicine. The flowers, leaves and roots of moringa are widely used as remedies for several ailments (Maroyi 2006) and this has resulted in its widespread cultivation as a dietary supplement in most rural homegardens in Zimbabwe.

Table 2. Summary of taxonomic rank and use categories of plant species in homegardens of Nhema communal area, Zimbabwe

	Vegetable	Building material	Fruit	Ornamental plant	Medicinal	Cereal	Tuber	Oil crop	Other
Species	19	17	17	17	10	6	3	3	3
Genus	15	13	15	15	10	6	3	3	3
Family	9	12	14	14	8	1	3	2	3

Table 3. Families with the largest number of plant species in Nhema communal area homegardens

Family	No. of species	Percentage
Poaceae	7	10.3
Fabaceae	6	8.8
Cucurbitaceae	5	7.4
Euphorbiaceae	5	7.4
Solanaceae	5	7.4

Cereals, tubers, and vegetables formed a major part of the diet of Nhema communal area households, with maize being the staple food for most people in the area. All households plant maize in the late dry season in homegardens, to serve as a supplement to the main field maize crop harvested during the mid-wet season. Maize planted at the end of wet season is usually consumed as green mealy or roasted. Ipomoea batatas is universally popular and eaten as an extra food; in some households it often takes the place of sadza (a staple food made from maize meal) for the main meal of the day. The most common vegetables are those used as a relish served with sadza: onion, cabbage, oilseed rape, pumpkin, bean, and cowpea. Varieties of Brassica, locally referred to as ‘covo’, ‘rugare’, and ‘tsunga’, are popular, especially those that can be grown easily from cuttings. This is viewed as a valuable characteristic, as all the plants will survive with little care for several years and, if kept cut back, will continually produce new side shoots with young tender leaves. Leaves of pumpkin are most commonly eaten and best liked of all the edible leaves, especially during the rainy season.

Important fruit trees recorded around homes, in homefields, or orchards in Nhema communal area were: Carica papaya (pawpaw), Citrus limon (lemon), Citrus sinensis (orange), Mangifera indica (mango), Persea americana (avocado), Prunus persica (peach), and Psidium guajava (guava). Mango, guava, and orange were the most popular fruit trees. Similar results were obtained by Campbell et al. (1991), while Hancock (1989) found a different group of fruit trees in higher rainfall areas. The most frequent species, in order, were peach, mango, banana, and Mexican apple. Indigenous fruit trees kept by households include: Azanza gackeana, Berchemia discolor, Diospyros mespiliformis, Parinari curatellifolia, Sclerocarya birrea, Strychnos cocculoides, S. spinosa, and Uapaca kirkiana. These fruit trees were mostly located around homes, and none were found in garden plots. The most diverse group of indigenous tree species was also used for construction purposes, as ornamentals, for shade, or as hedging plants; however, most of these occurred in just one or two of the studied homegardens, hence their low frequency (Table 1). Species most frequently used were: Acacia spp., A. gackeana, B. discolor, Combretum spp., Commiphora sp., D. mespiliformis, P. curatellifolia, S. birrea, Strychnos spp., U. kirkiana, and Terminalia sericea. Exotic plant species cultivated specifically for such uses included Agave spp. (ornamental and live fencing), Canna indica (ornamental), Catharanthus roseus (medicinal and ornamental), Melia azedarch (ornamental), and Nerium oleander (ornamental).

About 30% of the recorded plant species have at least two uses, and almost all of them (98%) were recorded around the homestead and used as medicine, ornamental, fruit, timber, firewood, etc. Among highly multi-purpose species were: Eucalyptus sp. (medicine, ornamental, and widely used for construction purposes), Moringa oleifera (medicine, vegetable, and construction); Opuntia ficus-indica (edible fruits, ornamental, and hedging); Sclerocarya birrea (fruit, medicine, ornamental, shade, and construction), and Mangifera indica (fruit, firewood, living fences, and ornamental). These results correlate strongly with the findings of Musvoto and Campbell (1995), who found mango was a multipurpose tree, providing fruit, firewood, poles, organic matter for soil amendment, living fence posts, shade, soil conservation, and cattle feed. Shackleton and Shackleton (2005) also found that Sclerocarya birrea was a multipurpose tree used in South Africa. Among plants with miscellaneous uses is Saccharum officinarum (sugar cane), grown in patches in damp places at low elevation in homegardens. The stem is chewed raw for its juice. Parinari curatellifolia and Kirkia acuminata have miscellaneous uses and also have social significance (Campbell et al. 1991). P. curatellifolia is used for, e.g., shade, ornamental, and construction. A strong correlation was found between the use category of a plant species and its location in the homegarden. For example, medicinal, ornamental, and fruit plants were always close to the homestead in order to facilitate their care and to safeguard against theft.

Homegarden and household income

Through participant observation and interviews with a subset of five households in Nhema communal area (Table 4), homegardens were found to produce supplementary staple crops and also served as sources of income for several families. As in other agroforestry systems, the diversity of crop species and production cycles in homegardens enables year-round production of different products, reducing the risk of production failure (Abebe et al. 2006). Similarly, Shackleton et al. (2008) found that goods harvested from trees are consumed within the home, buffer households during times of stress, and are bartered with neighbors or sold in local and regional markets. Few plant products from homegardens are sold (Table 4) because most are exclusively used for household consumption. Sales were confined almost exclusively to the local catchment area because transport to the tarred road and to the city is difficult and the local bus service is infrequent. Most households sell their homegarden produce directly from their garden plots. Households without garden plots or whose crop is not yet ready for harvest, purchase vegetables and fruits from neighboring gardens. Some households also gave some homegarden produce to neighbors and relatives. This trade and exchange of homegarden products between households and relatives strengthens family relationships. Among locally traded fruit and vegetables are beans, cabbage, carrots, guava, mango, orange, peach, pumpkin, oilseed rape, sugar cane, and tomato. These were only sold if households had a surplus. The observations on farmers in Nhema communal area are consistent with results from research on mango trees in Mangwende (Musvoto and Campbell 1995), where nearly half of the mangoes produced was consumed by households and the remainder was given to relatives and school children, or sold in local markets.

Table 4. Characteristics of case study households in Nhema communal area, Zimbabwe

	HOUSEHOLD
Characteristics	No. 1	No. 2	No. 3	No. 4	No. 5
Household head	Widow	Male	Male	Widow	Male
Age	46	37	57	53	61
Income apart from farming	Nil	Z$^a20,000/month	Nil	Nil	Z$8,000/month
Adults	3	5	5	7	7
Children	3	3	1	2	1
Total in family	6	8	6	9	8
Size of garden plot	300 m^2	450 m^2	250 m^2	420 m^2	500 m^2
Marketed crops	Cabbage, pumpkin, oilseed rape, tomato		Cabbage, guava, mango, peach, oilseed rape, tomato	Bean, cabbage, oilseed rape, tomato	Bean, cabbage, carrot, guava, mango, orange, peach, pumpkin, oilseed rape, tomato, sugar cane
Are crop sales spread throughout the year	Yes	Not applicable	Yes	Yes	Yes
Total income	Z$240,000	Not applicable	Z$400,000	Z$560,000	Z$800,000
Rationale behind homegarden cultivation	Provide food security	Provide food security	Provide food security and income	Provide food security and income	Provide food security and income
Use of inputs
Fertilizer	Yes, if available	Yes, if available	Yes, if available	Yes, if available	Yes, if available
Livestock manure	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Compost, termitaria	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Treated seed	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Labor investment
Family members involved in gardening	4	2	4	7	5
Hours per month spent on gardening	40	28	54	56	60
^aAt the time of this study, US$1 = Z$1500.

Trade in fresh traditional vegetables like pumpkin and Cleome gynandra commences soon after the first rains, around mid-November to April or May. After fresh produce is depleted, households use dried vegetables, which are usually sold in small quantities. Demands for dried vegetables increases with the onset of the dry season (May to November) when fresh vegetables become scarce. However, the majority of cultivated crops (cabbages, onion, oilseed rape, etc.) are traded throughout the year. It is well known that several tree fruits in homegardens are nutritionally rich, and carbohydrate-rich grain crops are also a main source of vitamins and minerals for the family (Nair 2006). Marketing opportunities are higher and more flexible for vegetables and fruit than for cash crops and maize from the main fields. Maize and cash crops can only be sold to the government-owned Grain Marketing Board (GMB), which fixes prices for commodities and takes 4–6 months to pay for the products. Returns from vegetables and homegarden fruit constitute about a third of the returns from main fields. Some products from homegardens, particularly maize and sweet potato, are important buffers during drought years. The sale of products from homegardens significantly improves family financial status, because cash income can be used by the household to buy food, clothing, pay school fees, etc.

Gardening strategies vary with land quality, access to adult labor during the year, and marketing strategy. In Nhema communal area, homegardens are generally the responsibility of women, as are activities associated with gardens, such as sale of vegetables and fruits. Joint activities do exist, e.g., collection of compost and termitaria as fertilizer, collection of livestock manure, and weeding. But physical assignments like fencing, digging up termitaria, livestock manure, and plowing of homegardens are usually done by men. Very few external inputs, e.g., hired labor and application of synthetic pesticides, are used by households. The year-round utilization of homegardens results in substantial nitrogen losses from the granite-derived sandy soils; therefore agricultural production requires regular addition of nitrogen-based fertilizers to maintain crop production, and farmers add various locally derived soil amendments such as cattle manure, woodland litter, or clay-rich termitaria (Chivaura-Mususa et al. 2000). In this regard, labor, particularly family labor, was found to be the main input. Most individuals who work in homegardens are adults. Children (attending school) assist with weeding and carrying irrigation water from wells, streams, and rivers. Watering depends on soil and crop type and varies from daily to twice weekly. Carrying irrigation water is one of the most time-consuming and challenging tasks in home gardening. The amount of labor invested per family in homegarden management varied according to plot size, family size, and level of garden production. Average labor input for the five case studies (Table 4) was 48 h per family per month. Other important homegarden activities include re-fencing the garden every dry season (fencing is required to reduce foraging by animals or theft of produce), carrying cattle or goat manure, compost, and termitaria to the garden, and marketing fruit and vegetables.

Households have their own rationale for engaging in gardening, the majority depend on homegardens for production of crops that have a high market value and plants that produce food for family consumption (Table 4). The de-facto female-headed households, e.g., Household No. 2 (Table 4), are generally regarded as cash-rich, allowing them to buy some food products, if in short supply, and do less work in their homegarden. This household type confines garden activities to relish crops for home consumption only, as it has other sources of income. Households without an employed member rely totally on trade in homegarden products (Table 4). Yearly household incomes were generally low, ranging from Z$240,000 to Z$800,000. The farmer with the highest income had another source of income, which he used to buy inputs like fertilizer, treated seeds, etc. Some households, e.g., household Nos. 1 and 4, are headed by widows, who are responsible for homegarden management. Household No.1 concentrated on vegetable cultivation for most of the year and marketed cabbages, pumpkin, oilseed rape, and tomatoes, giving an income of Z$240,000 per year. This household grew crops in the wet season, from November to April, thus avoiding the need for irrigation. Households Nos. 3 and 5 mainly grow vegetable crops throughout the year and maize towards the end of the dry season. These production strategies of households provide an important measure of security and flexibility during the agricultural year.

In terms of sustainability, home gardening activities in Nhema communal area have existed for at least 50 years, as part of the traditional agroforestry system. Current evidence suggests that it is likely to remain viable for the foreseeable future as households continue to rely on home gardening as a strategy to stabilize household food security and income against the risks and uncertainties of monocropping. The cultivation of a diverse array of plant species in Nhema is a development program whose objective is centred on the concept of sustainability. In the struggle for survival and improved living conditions, immediate needs are normally satisfied at the expense of future generations, but this is not the case with home gardening in Nhema communal area; a crucial transition has taken place in the community, where destructive farming systems have been replaced by new and improved cultivation methods that raise food, medicinal, ornamental, and other useful plants without destroying agroforestry systems on which agriculture ultimately depends. The results of this investigation revealed that effective development and management of homegardens is essential for sustainable growth and poverty reduction. Sustainable management of homegardens must be balanced with the short-term needs of the people for social and economic development and protection of the natural resource base. Protection is a longer-term goal for ensuring that the resource base is utilized wisely so that it can continue to provide benefits to improve livelihoods and quality of life, reducing poverty and fostering economic growth into the future on a sustainable basis. The results of this investigation indicate that a considerable array of plant species are nurtured in homegardens in both homesteads and garden plots and these are an essential resource on which families, communities, nations, and future generations depend.

This paper demonstrated how homegardens are used to advance important livelihood objectives. It considered the potential benefits of home gardening as part of the farming system, with the capability of raising income and thus improving livelihoods of the poor. Similar observations were made by Marsh (1998), who stated that homegardens are a production system that the poor can easily enter at some level since it may be done with minimal or no economic resources, using locally available planting materials, natural manures, and indigenous methods of pest control. For home gardening to be sustainable and continue to benefit poor families, inputs must be affordable and agricultural advice from Government Extension Officers should also be readily available. The evidence collected so far shows that some plant species grown on a small scale with limited inputs provide a major source of income for the poorest people. They do not require large capital investments or working capital to provide inputs for production or to trade homegarden products. The market for homegarden products was found to be informal and untapped. This provides great potential for growth as far as marketing of homegarden products is concerned. Current economic hardships within Zimbabwe provide opportunities for expansion of homegarden production to satisfy food needs. This creates the potential to commercialize some of the traded fruit and vegetables, particularly indigenous species that are currently used mainly for subsistence.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the people of Nhema communal area for their assistance and cooperation during data collection. I am grateful to A. Muroyiwa and Dr Freerk Wiersum for reviewing earlier drafts of this paper.