Although the principal fisheries were located both in the floodplains between the Lupata gorge and the Zambezi’s confluence with the Shire River and in the lower floodplains and delta extending to the sea, fishermen also exploited the rich lakes, rivulets, and estuaries connected to the Zambezi. According to one study, the estimated total catch in the delta alone—before the construction of Cahora Bassa—ranged from thirty to fifty thousand tons per year.284Even on the lower-yielding southern bank of the river near Tete, fishing provided a significant source of food for riparian households.285
Historically, fishing was a gendered economic activity to which many men devoted much time, energy, and skill (see fig. 2.3). Drawing on knowledge handed down by their fathers and grandfathers, fishermen deployed numerous intricate techniques to maximize their catch. Not surprisingly, men’s fishing stories highlighted, and possibly exaggerated, the tremendous bounty of the river, rather than the labor and expertise required for successful fishing. Khumbidzi Pastor, for example, recalled proudly that most adult men simply baited machonga (fishing weirs), moored them in the river each evening, and “the next day we would remove the machonga and they would be filled with fish.”286Skilled canoemen were said to spear fish while standing on the sides of their boats, while young boys caught fish with hooks and lines—and even with their hands—in dammed-up pools and rivulets adjacent to the Zambezi.287These combined efforts yielded substantial catches of prized bream, tigerfish, catfish, and eel, which fishermen hauled back to their temporary villages for drying or smoking.288Women typically sold excess fish at inland markets.
An understudied subject in the environmental history of southern and Central Africa, fishing required considerably more ingenuity and skill than these simple narratives suggest.289For one thing, the labor process and choice of technique were highly dependent on location and time of year. During the dry season, groups of fishermen established temporary camps on the edges of the floodplains or on the small islands adjacent to their villages. When the river was low, they waded in with simple gill nets and baskets to catch their prey, sometimes with the assistance of their wives and older children. Floodplain fishing was attractive because it neither required substantial investments in nets or canoes nor was labor intensive. Although the fish were smaller during the dry season, yields were still relatively high, and fishermen were less likely to be attacked by crocodiles or hippos hidden in the water.290Women also participated in dry-season fishing, through a practice known as mlembwe, in which groups of women converged in the shallow pools and grasslands near the water’s edge and scooped up the fish in sheets and baskets.291Although this allowed women to contribute substantial quantities of protein to their family’s diet, it was not considered a serious form of fishing: “Women during that time could not seriously go into the water to catch fish. We could only go into the water to do mlembwe. We would stretch sheets, sink them under water, and move around; we would then fold them when the fish were inside. This is what we called mlembwe. Men would do the real fishing out there while we did mlembwe.”292
Rainy-season fishing offered the possibility of larger catches. Khaki Mwandipandusa remembered that “when the [annual Zambezi] floods came, we were very happy. . . . We were catching a lot of fish because, when the river flowed at a faster rate, fish at the bottom would now come to the shallow waters.”293From December through April, both the fish population and the number of large fish increased substantially. The faster-flowing currents, however, made catching fish harder and more dangerous.294 “We worked very hard,” stressed Aniva João, a fisherman from Inhangoma, “the river moved very quickly and there were so many fish that came out of the bhande [reeds]. We had to change our methods in order to capture them. During the floods we relied on a variety of different nets depending on where we were fishing, and [on] the types of fish.”295Most fishermen used dugout canoes to harvest their catch, while some individually trawled with nets along the shoreline.296They generally fished at night, when the water was calmer and the fish stayed closer to the surface, returning home with their catch before dawn.297Boatmen who were more skilled searched the Zambezi for rich fishing beds further afield.298
To ensure their safety against the dangers of the mighty river, fishermen—and mlembwe women—relied on the sheltering power of spirits to protect them from harm. Fishermen embarking on long river journeys made special offerings (ntsembe) to their deceased relatives. To avoid drowning in the river, some “sprinkle[d] libations into the water as an offering to ancestor spirits.”299According to Alberto Rapazolo, “in the past, before women went in work parties to catch fish, the chief and the elders would ask permission of the mudzimu [family ancestor spirits] to allow the women to enter the water and to protect them.”300
Because rainy-season fishing in the rivulets and streams connected to the Zambezi was much less time consuming and dangerous than in the swiftly moving river, it attracted both professional and part-time fishermen. During the seasonal floods, when water from the Zambezi filled these smaller channels, it carried in large schools of fish. Men in canoes set weiro, large traps made from bamboo reeds, at strategic points in the smaller channels. The floodwaters sweeping into the rivulets thrust fish into the traps, from which escape was impossible. Most fishermen using this technique returned daily to secure their catch until the river receded.301Others, working in groups of five to six, used nets to trap fish in the adjacent wetlands and marshes.302
Many peasants who lived near these inlets also took advantage of the high fish population during flood season to supplement their household food supply. These men used nkhonga, smaller triangular weirs they wove out of thick grass, bound with palm strings, and baited with porridge. After paying homage to their ancestors, they placed them with their openings facing the fast-moving water at the edges of waterways and in shallow ponds.303The men typically remained at these locations for a week or two, collecting and drying the fish and ensuring that crocodiles and other animals neither destroyed their weirs nor consumed the catch. Some, like Bernardo Gona, returned to his fishing site once every three or four days. On a good night, when the fish were running well, he could “bring home five or six sacks stuffed after only four hours.” He gave some of his catch to the people who worked with him in his garden, sold some to local traders, and consumed the rest.304After these part-time fishermen were satisfied that they had caught enough, they resumed working in the fields with their wives and children.305
As Gona’s account suggests, for many households the especially rich supply of fish the Zambezi provided during the rainy season both augmented protein intake and fueled local labor and commodity markets. Bene Ngoca, who lived on the opposite bank from Gona, painted a similar picture: “In a single day I could fill my entire canoe with large fish—bass, catfish, bream, and many others.”306In fact, the Zambezi valley’s fishing economy expanded considerably in the first part of the twentieth century due to the development of new fishing techniques, most notably the kokota seine nets and the psyairo (encircling fishing fence).307By the middle of the twentieth century, many families were selling fish at nearby markets, even though in some areas fishing for profit ran up against long-standing cultural prohibitions against overexploiting natural resources for individual gain.308As Marita Zhuwao explained, “In the past if one continued to fish even after one caught sufficient fish for one’s family, the spirit [of the river] would get angry. Then, if one threw in the nets to catch more fish, maybe one would catch a dead baby or [receive] some other bad omen.”309
Even if some exaggerated the size of the catch, there is no question that fishing was one of the twin pillars of the Zambezi valley’s economy, both for those who fished regularly and for many who primarily cultivated the land. Together with farming, it sustained riverside communities and fueled local trade. All this would change with the building of the dam.
Wildlife and Forest Resources
The riparian ecosystems of the lower Zambezi valley also supported an impressive variety of animal and tree species. Guinea fowl, bushpig, kudu, and waterbuck were everywhere, and eland, buffalo, gazelles, elephants, and rhinoceroses also roamed the region,310seeking nourishment, especially in the dry season, in the