This interview with Earth Jurisprudence Practitioner Gertrude Pswarayi-Jabson was originally published by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa. Their ‘Voices of AFSA’ series celebrates those leading the return to agroecology in Africa. You can watch the full video interview here or at the bottom of this extract.
Gertrude Pswarayi-Jabson © Rory Sheldon
QUESTIONS
We find ourselves in spaces where we feel lost, but in fact, we are in the right space.
I’ve always known myself to be someone who asks questions. I remember when I was a child, my mother would ask, “Why are you questioning?”. I found it difficult to just accept things as they were said.
I was born in Zimbabwe. My mum had a huge influence on my character and how I saw the world. She was a child bride, which was considered normal, and I think the rebel in me was born out of seeing my mother desiring so much in life but being unable to achieve it. Although she has joined the ancestral realm, our connection remains. I have a feeling that her reality is still lived through me. So, here I am.
Growing up, people would always ask, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” I would always say I wanted to be a lawyer and defend human rights. I wanted to stand up for others and challenge the norms of that time. I wanted to express myself and fight for what was right.
In fact, I went on to study journalism, then reported on politics, the abuse of women, and the abuse of political activists. I focussed on issues that wouldn’t find space in papers or media that reported pro-ruling party or opposition agendas. I felt there was a missing voice in reporting human rights issues from a non-political perspective. Those are the stories I covered.
Eventually though, I felt the need to change course and moved to South Africa. I always say that we find ourselves in spaces where we feel lost, but in fact, we are in the right space. While I was there, I had my first introduction to working with nature, through the Africa Center for Holistic Management under the mentorship of Alan Savory. I was later approached by PELUM-Zimbabwe and asked to revive their network of agroecological farmers. For me, this was an opportunity to learn: our food system is critical, and understanding the impact of industrial agriculture on the Earth deepened my commitment to protecting not just humans but also other forms of life.
ANSWERS
When the student is ready, the teacher comes.
This coincided with a personal transition in my life. While my work was fulfilling, I sensed that I needed to get on the right path and do something more meaningful. This path led me to the African Earth Jurisprudence Collective. I began to see the work I was doing from a different perspective. It wasn’t just about land regeneration from a human perspective, but from a nature perspective, being guided by nature because this frames how we operate in the world.
So, when most people hear me speak, I come from that perspective. Yes, it’s agroecology like everyone else, but it goes deeper into recognizing the value of indigenous wisdom—the knowledge once held by our elders, passed on from generation to generation about how to take care of all life. It’s about realizing that humans are part of a much broader web and that disconnecting ourselves from that web is the genesis of our problems. Humans wanting to dominate, oppress, and exploit other forms of life is the root issue.
There’s an elder who told me, “When the student is ready, the teacher comes.”. There is a way that one finds themselves in the right place, sitting with the right person. I was first introduced to Earth Jurisprudence through a colleague named Method Gunditsa, who works with the Earthlore Foundation.
A NEW DAY
When you think you have arrived, you realize you have not even started the journey.
I’m usually someone who never stays too late at gatherings, but on that day in South Africa, I stayed until midnight. Method said, “It’s midnight. I would like to have some snuff”, took it out, shared it with others, then offered it to me. I had never seen snuff or taken it, but I said, “Of course, who wouldn’t want to share snuff if everyone has shared snuff?” So, I took the snuff. Then he said, “Maybe we should talk.” And that’s how we connected.
Method told me about a three-year training to go back to our roots, work with communities to revive Indigenous knowledge, and give communities the confidence to bring back their ecological governance systems. I thought, “This fits perfectly with the work of PELUM-Zimbabwe.” So, in a way, everything was in sync.
Starting the training gave depth to the work I was doing. By continuously learning and using all the ways of knowing, we could support communities to care for nature and improve their livelihoods. In every sense, Earth Jurisprudence consolidated my role, gave me more capacity to think outside the box, and perform my duties and responsibilities as the country coordinator for PELUM-Zimbabwe.
When asked if I have found what I was searching for, I would say the search never ends. When you think you have arrived, you realize you have not even started the journey. Each day we make ourselves better, and each day we learn new things. We meet people, and the experiences we have when we meet new people are lessons for the day. We grow.
EARTH JURISPRUDENCE
The children of Africa had lost their way
The story of the African Earth Jurisprudence Collective started with some elders from South Africa, Ethiopia, and Kenya, who journeyed to Colombia to learn how the Amazonians had managed to revive their culture and protect sacred forests. There they met elders like the shaman Ricardo Marín, who dreamt that African ancestors wanted to connect with the children of Africa. They were failing to do so because those children of Africa had lost their ways and were no longer following tradition.
From an ancestral perspective, we understand that when our elders transition from this physical realm, they join the ancestral realm where they have roles to perform, such as communicating with those still on Earth. Communication happens in different ways—through dreams, whispers in our ears, visions, etc. Modern science often dismisses these forms of communication because they lack evidence, but some scientists are beginning to acknowledge Indigenous wisdom and other ways of knowing.
FROM HUMAN RIGHTS TO MORE-THAN-HUMAN RIGHTS
Earth Jurisprudence helps us remember other ways of knowing
Earth Jurisprudence is a form of practicing law, but not in the conventional sense. When people talk about law, they think of legal documents, constitutions, and conventions. But Earth Jurisprudence is about the law of nature. Every way of behaving should be guided by the laws of nature. Thomas Berry, the father of Earth Jurisprudence, said that Earth is orderly. Even when things seem chaotic, there is order in nature. In agroecology, for example, you never see trees planted in rows as in industrial agriculture; different species live in harmony, each giving the other space and support. There is an inherent order in everything.
Due to colonization and modernization, Africans have forgotten these laws of nature. They have forgotten the deep relationship they used to have with nature and how to read their environment. When colonization came, along with religions like Christianity, it labeled African practices as evil or demonic, disrupting the sacred ways our ancestors cared for nature. Sacred places, now biodiversity hotspots, were once protected by our ancestors. Colonialists built churches on these sacred sites, displacing people from their spiritual connections. Education systems introduced during colonization further undermined traditional ways of learning. Children were taken from their communities and placed in classrooms, away from elders who held wisdom and knowledge.
Earth Jurisprudence acknowledges the disorder brought by colonization. It encourages communities to remember how they used to care for rivers, forests, insects, and animals. It reminds us that humans are part of a broader web of life. My mother’s totem is a monkey, so whenever I see monkeys, I connect with them because of this bond. Earth Jurisprudence helps us remember other ways of knowing, not just through logic but also intuition, dreams, and ancestral messages. It acknowledges that Earth is orderly and that humans need to reconnect with the whole community of life, finding ways to relate to all beings.
AFRICAN ANCESTRAL KNOWLEDGE AND AGROECOLOGY
How can you own the sun? How can you own the wind? How can you own the land when you are just there for a time, and then you leave, but the land remains?
Earth Jurisprudence is about acknowledging that Earth doesn’t exist merely for the benefit of humans. From that understanding, we can acknowledge that communities are custodians of nature, not owners. When people talk about agroecology, they often speak of ownership, fighting for the ownership of land. But you can never own land. How can you own the sun? How can you own the wind? How can you own the land when you are just there for a time, and then you leave, but the land remains?
This thinking is often unspoken in the agroecology movement, which is very anthropocentric—human-centered in its thinking and decision-making. Much activism, lobbying, and activities are driven by the need to fulfil human needs. There is very little recognition of the importance of other forms of life or giving priority to them. Decisions are rarely nature-based but human-based. That’s where the difference lies when you speak about Earth Jurisprudence, which acknowledges that whatever we need to do should be guided by the laws of nature. If the laws of nature guide our decisions, then humans are secondary. Once you respect the laws of nature, it means that humans are also catered for. The elephants, the trees, and everyone are catered for.
This work is about healing both the inside and the outside. When we get into this work and see ourselves as custodians, the work is no longer just a job. This is the great work ahead of us. Healing ecosystems is connected to healing oneself. As long as you are not healed inside, you will not get it. How can you heal someone when you yourself are sick? It’s about remembering who you are. You can’t say, “I am doing agroecology as an African advocate,” when you don’t know who you are as an African. Which advocacy are you doing and for whom? It’s a story about remembering who we are, which challenges us to have difficult conversations in our activism spaces. These difficult topics include issues of spirituality, not religion but spirituality. Many people find it sensitive, so they shy away from it. But without discussing spirituality, our work lacks full support.
STANDING ON THREE LEGS
Addressing agroecology at a deeper level requires practical work, ancestral recognition, and spiritual work.
Agroecology should sit on three legs, like a three-legged pot.
We should have agroecology that looks at the ecosystem and how it is taken care of, which is the practical work we do with farmers to restore ecosystems and take care of nature and other life forms.
There is also the ancestral realm, understanding that we are connected with those who lived before us and those who will live after us. The past, present, and future are all connected. We can’t do our advocacy work without acknowledging the work done by our ancestors and understanding that what we do now will impact future generations. Time, in this sense, is something we should transcend to see our ancestors, our current generation, and future generations as one.
And thirdly, there is African cosmology. Without it, our advocacy remains linear. Spirituality in agroecology is fundamental because this work is deep and requires a lot of support due to the many forces that challenge us. We can’t do it alone. When people ask how we knew something, it’s because we have opened all our ways of knowing.
These three legs—practical work, ancestral recognition, and spiritual work—guide me. Addressing agroecology at a deeper level requires all three. Focusing on just one is not enough.
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
When we learn to work with that potency, we find that Africa has all it needs to correct the wrongs that have befallen our continent.
There’s still a long way to go, and it starts with the individual. It’s about a willingness to open your heart and truly explore, not just touch things at the surface level. There’s also a danger of people who want to do it because it’s the “in thing.”
But the potency of this way of working enables us to touch something alive. We know that nature is alive, nature speaks, and it has a way of protecting itself. This is why we say places are sacred—because they perform certain functions. When we learn to work with that potency, we find that Africa has all it needs to correct the wrongs that have befallen our continent. We just need to return to our roots, reweave the basket of life, and remember who we are as a people. We need to be honest with ourselves.
Agroecology recognizes indigenous knowledge systems and farmers as custodians of all forms of life. It provides opportunities for addressing the multiple crises we face: desertification, biodiversity loss, soil depletion, drying of rivers, climate change, and more. Agroecology offers solutions to these issues by addressing their root causes, rather than just working at a superficial level. It also allows people to connect deeply with the land and develop a profound relationship with it. With that in mind, I see agroecology as a comprehensive solution because it addresses all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
OUR FUTURE
I envision an Africa where Africans are proud to be custodians
Africa knows, but sometimes we lack the confidence to share our wisdom.
For me, I see an Africa that has been revived, a continent with communities confident in practicing age-old traditions that took care of all forms of life. I envision an Africa where Africans are proud to be custodians, and relearning the laws of nature.
They will stand up and impart this wisdom to those who do not know. I see an Africa where its children remember who they are.
Having completed the Trainings for Transformation recommended by Method over midnight snuff, Gertrude is now an Earth Jurisprudence Practitioner and member of the African Earth Jurisprudence Collective. She works alongside Method as Co-Director of EarthLore Foundation, accompanying rural communities in Zimbabwe and South Africa.