Trees in fields in Southern Zimbabwe

Abstract

The presence of large attractive indigenous trees in cultivated fields is a notable feature of peasant farming areas in Zimbabwe. 2 Indeed one of the very earliest European visitors to the area where I conducted my fieldwork, Mauch in 1871, wrote of fields in Masunda Chivi: 'large fig-trees and marula are always left standing while the other trees fall victim to the axe and fire'. I Similarly Coillard's notes on his visit to the same area in 1877 mention how he 'outspanned under the shade of a gigantic tree in a lovely shade'; an early Native Commissioner identified the tree as a muchakata, the other most important species that is conserved by the people of this area.4 (See glossary) This paper is about the continued conservation of these trees which southern Shona farmers consider very important to their welfare, in a situation where colonial agriculturalists have rigorously promoted tree removal.