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Dimbas in Dambos: Village Gardens of Eastern Zambia
| Article
# : |
12019 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
6 / 1994 |
2,042 Words |
| Author
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Mwizenge S. Tembo
Mwizenge S. Tembo is associate professor of sociology at
Bridgewater College in Virginia. He wishes to comment that, of
course, one should exercise common sense, maintain good
hygiene, and take necessary medical precautions whenever
eating in a foreign country. Fears of contaminated food
and "dirty" water frequently create worries for the average
Western visitor to Zambia. Indeed, visitors may experience
some food-related discomforts. But be assured that in Zambia
most well-cooked foods, especially nshima, are clean, as is
water from faucets, taps, or concrete wells in rural areas. |
The dimba (family garden) is perhaps the most important source of fresh fruit, vegetables, and small cash crops among the rural communities of Zambia's Eastern Province. The average village family eats a daily meal of nshima (a thick cornmeal mush), supplemented by vegetables from its dimba two or three times a week. The nuclear or extended family might also earn from 1,000 to 3,000 Zambian kwacha (approximately U.S. $2-6) a week from the sale of the dimba's produce: good money by rural Zambian standards.
The dimbas are known among at least six tribes or language groups (the Nsenga, Chewa, Ngoni, Kunda, Tumbuka, and Senga) whose more than one million people live in eastern Zambia and parts of Malawi. These family gardens are an excellent example of human resourcefulness in taking advantage of the natural environment and are among the most vibrant and creative agricultural practices in contemporary rural eastern Zambia.
What distinguishes the dimba from the ordinary urban backyard garden or commercial vegetable farm is its location and modest size. The dimba is always sited in a dambo (a valley located at the source of streams, creeks, or rivers). In eastern Zambia, dambos cover an estimated three to four million hectares (1.62 million acres). The dambo is often relatively flat, features short grass that grows in thick clumps, and has a thick, dark, clayish soil. The most crucial factor is that the area is wet and that the water table may be just one to three feet below the surface, depending on the time of year. Wells dug in the dimbas may be the only water source for a village during the end of the dry season in October, when most other sources have been exhausted.
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