PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTIONS ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE IMPACT OF AFRICAN INDIGENOUS RELIGION ON FOOD SECURITY AMONG THE NDAU PEOPLE OF SOUTH EAST ZIMBABWE

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.