How is menstruation good for the plants?- Ntsiki Mazwai explains

"The land has gone barren because it's men working the land," said Ntsiki Mazwai. Picture: Youth Village

Maleka Charles

The acclaimed South African poet and activist, Ntsiki Mazwai, sparked online debate with her bold and controversial statement — claiming that women’s menstrual blood can be used as manure to grow plants.

In an interview with DJ Sbu on Tuesday, Mazwai explained that menstrual blood contained nutrients that could help vegetables grow bigger and stronger.

Which is why in the ancient Africa women were the only ones allowed to work the land instead of men.

Here’s how menstruation can make your vegetables thrive she added, emphasizing the natural benefits often overlooked in society’s taboos.

* Use the blood and mix it with water and irrigate your vegetable

Mazwai emphasized that by irrigating the vegies with women's menstrual blood there will be more plants to harvest, as this method was in ancient times. 

* The menstrual blood nourishes the earth and makes the plants even bigger.

She further argued that the world has “gone barren” because men are now the ones working the earth — unlike in ancient times when women were the primary caretakers of the soil.

Mazwai also urged women to return to how they once saw themselves — as powerful beings in tune with nature — and called on men to protect and honour them as they once did.

"We need to go back to how we used to see ourselves, and really men used to revere women, and the mission for men was to protect women and to make sure women are sorted out."

She concluded by saying that feminism is not a white people’s concept, but rather something deeply rooted in the nature and traditions of Black people.