Abstract:
This article focuses on the role of the African indigenous religion(s) (AIRs) in
compacting environmental degradation and affirming the stability of food
security among the Ndau people of Chipinge,south-east Zimbabwe. The study
interrogates religious taboos, considering the divine punishment embedded in
the essence of the AIR in the protection and preservation of the environment.
Drawing examples from Chief Mapungwana‟s and Chief Musikavanhu‟s
structural organisation in public rituals and mushandirapamwe (working
together projects) and doro remakoto (rain-making ceremony) in the Ndau
society, the study shows that the religion fosters mutuality, reciprocity,
togetherness and positive attitudes towards the environment. Premising the
entire argument on the foregoing insights, the study envisages that the tripartite
cosmology of the Africans immensely contributes to the conservation of the
ecosystem. The study focuses on the perpetual divine food provision through
reliable rains, good harvests and ubiquitous existence of both domestic and wild
fruits in the vicinity and thereby ensuring food security to the Ndau people. In
cognisance of the food abundance, the AIR, through some divine restrictions,
ensures equal sharing and shuns the notion of mbau (greed). The study
recommends that the recent interface between AIRs and Christianity should not
disturb the Ndau people‟s cosmological stability.
