Staff Reporter | It’s all systems go once again for Gwanda villagers as they take time to go into the bush to harvest one of Southern Africa’s delicacy, Mopani worms, Amacimbi in IsiNdebele spoken in area.

The much sought after food item is this year set to give a bumper harvest for the locals as it has come out in unusually high quantities.

Villagers around the district particularly in the Makwe and Sibhula areas have already amassed hundreds of kilogrammes of the worms. According to the villagers they are set for big business this year as buyers start flocking to the area to buy the mopani worms.

At the point of harvest a 20 litre bucket is currently being sold for $15 with the price set to go up as demand increases in the next few weeks. In the past years when the worms were near scarce the price kicked off at over $30 per bucket fetching up to $60 in far off places like Harare where there is a huge market for the worms.

Community leaders have however raised concerns at the poor harvesting methods by some people who cut down trees as they fetch the worms. The leaders claim that the people cutting down trees are mostly “poachers” from outside the district who do not have the traditional background in the harvesting of the worms and are not aware of the importance of preserving the trees for purposes of continuity in harvesting the worms.

Environmental Management Authority officers in the area could not be reached for comment on the extent of the damage that has been done to the environment in the course of the intensive harvest taking place.