Harare Agricultural Show: NMMZ, Tech & Agrarian Heritage

By Valerie Mpundu

At the just-ended Harare Agricultural Show, the National Museums & Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ), together with the Andrew Makahamadze Foundation and Southerton Constituency Community Development Trust, brought Agriculture, Technology & Commerce face to face with Culture and Heritage.

Speaking at the stand, NMMZ Curator Mr. Mangwiro said the exhibition focused on Agrarian Archeo: tracing how our people preserved, grew and survived through the ages.

“Our core business is to preserve and conserve NMMZ cultural heritage. We are only custodians. The heritage belongs to the people. That is why we work hand in hand with communities,” Mr. Mangwiro said.

Our Sub-Theme: Preserving Cultural Heritage, Serving Communities, Sustaining Livelihoods.

The Harare Agricultural Show heritage exhibition stand brought that to life. Clay pots for storing grain. Winnowing baskets. Pestles. The dura—the traditional grain bin that fed generations. Next to them, the wisdom of Pfumvudza climate-smart agriculture.

“Our forefathers planted in terraces, using only hoes. No machinery. Just knowledge of the land,” Mr. Mangwiro explained.

“Today as Zimbabwe encourages citizens to grow through Pfumvudza, we see the old ways were not backward. They were wise. They were climate-smart. They were ours.”

Technology has advanced. But our agricultural practices have not been abandoned. They have evolved. This work is being done in collaboration with the Southerton Constituency Community Development Trust.

“You cannot run away from your heritage. Agriculture is part of our heritage,” Mr. Mangwiro said. “Southerton is empowering communities while preserving heritage, especially through the Mbizi Cultural Hub Highfield.”

Mbizi was once a detention site, a place of pain. Today it is being transformed into a place of healing, a symbol of preservation where culture lives and livelihoods grow.

From the past we learn.

In the present we serve.

For the future we grow.

 Harare Agricultural Show Heritage Exhibition