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Supported by the Pawanka Fund, this project documents, revitalises and restores currency to Lega Indigenous knowledge of biodiversity restoration, while supporting 120 smallholder farmers organised into cooperatives in Ngambwa, Kasaga and Kiliungu.

There is a library without walls in Mwenga: the knowledge held by Lega elders about climate, soils, seeds, forest and the rituals that accompany them. That library closes a little with every death. The project led by PIFEVA with support from the Pawanka Fund set out first to transcribe its pages before they faded — and then to turn them into a productive tool.

Strand 1: collect, analyse, return

Historical climate data, climate-related cultural events, traditional weather forecasting systems and ancestral survival strategies were collected and consolidated. They now feed directly into biodiversity restoration work and farming practice across the territory.

Lega Indigenous and contemporary knowledge on climate change, its impacts and the respective roles of men and women in restoring and managing biodiversity was identified, analysed, promoted and respected. Cultural knowledge relating to Lega initiates, rainmakers, traditional spiritual leaders and local historians received the same treatment, contributing to the revitalisation of Lega identity.

A video and a digital photographic record documenting climate change impacts and Indigenous biodiversity management practices were produced. These materials now support advocacy on behalf of Lega Indigenous communities.

Strand 2: 120 producers, three groups, one cooperative

120 smallholder farmers — 60 young people and 60 Indigenous women — were organised into three groups of 40 members in Ngambwa, Kasaga and Kiliungu, then trained in climate change adaptation. Their Indigenous cultivation techniques were consolidated through the production of new knowledge combining tradition with modern agronomy.

Climate-adapted good practices were identified, tested and disseminated for rice, cassava, sweet potato, carrot, cabbage, beans and a range of local leafy vegetable seeds — mbogabuchungu, lengalenga, matembela and bishusha. Output has risen and is improving the socio-economic conditions of Indigenous families.

Giving value to Indigenous foods

Edible caterpillars, wild mushrooms, traditional groundnut paste (kindakinda), rice, cassava, sweet potato and traditional vegetable seeds have been promoted and sold in local markets and at the Indigenous agricultural fairs in Ngambwa. This is where the loop closes: documented knowledge becomes practice, practice becomes harvest, and harvest becomes the income that makes transmission possible.

THE PROJECT IN NUMBERS

120 Indigenous smallholder farmers supported

60 / 60 young people and Indigenous women

3 groups of 40 members

3 villages: Ngambwa, Kasaga, Kiliungu

1 video and photographic archive built for advocacy