One Health for Shangaan and The Place of Elephants

When we started the One Health program with Mahenye community a few years ago, we developed a training program on Holistic Planned Grazing for farmers in the community in order to help restore rangelands which had been degraded under the combined action of overgrazing and erosion. This holistic technique which has been developed in Zimbabwe is very effective in restoring soil fertility, improving crop productivity and in reducing human-wildlife conflict. 

As the world is preparing to celebrate World Environment Day and to launch the UN decade on Ecosystem Restoration in order to restore an area the size of China over the next 10 years, our One Health approach is visionary in having already promoted the restoration of drylands around conservation areas.

Southern Africa has now been hit by a second, more severe wave of COVID-19, with the reinstating of tougher restriction measures limiting people’s movements and closing borders. This has again compromised access to income for many rural families, especially as this is the peak of the lean season.  More than 4 million people face severe food insecurity in rural area and more than 1 million women and children require nutrition assistance.

A tougher lockdown also means that tourism activity at Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge is greatly reduced, with very little income to support Mahenye community.  This is a time when food emergency aid is vital to assist the most vulnerable families, especially women-led households, while also preparing plans for the nutrition garden this year. This is One Health In Action to build resilience of the most vulnerable communities in the face of great uncertainty and to protect one of the most iconic elephant population of southern Africa.