The Sunday Mail
Livingstone Marufu
Government is currently carrying out crop assessments across the country with preliminary indications revealing that Mashonaland East, Central, West and Manicaland maize belts will yield way below expectations.
Consequently, Zimbabwe is likely to import grain from South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
The three-week exercise was conducted by the Government and farmers’ organisations.
Agricultural extension specialists say Mashonaland Central, which is one of the key breadbasket regions, will likely produce way below its expected yield.
The region was expected to produce 390 000 metric tonnes of maize but from the latest results, Mashonaland Central is expected to get 264 000 metric tonnes, 126 000 tonnes lower than the target.
Last year, the province produced two national small-scale farmers’ finalists at last year’s Harare Agricultural Show.
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Deputy Minister Responsible for Crop Production and Mechanization, Dr Davis Marapira said that the crop assessment is still underway but the situation on the ground is not satisfactory as many crops succumbed to the effects of El Nino.
He said the country is heading for massive importation of maize until next year as the traditional maize belts did not produce adequate crops.
“We have sent different teams across the country to do the crop assessment but preliminary signs show that crops across the country are not good enough. All I can say is that the crop situation in the country is bad, even our traditional maize belts like Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central and some parts of Manicaland are way below their targets.
“These areas are the ones we look at in times of drought as they determine how much to import. This year, they are affected too by climate change effects. In Mashonaland West and north of Mashonaland East, some seeds that germinated were parched by the sun and when the rain came it was too late, most crops are a write-off.
“A week from now, we will have all the figures and statistics of crops, hectarages and what to expect from the fields,” said Deputy Minister Marapira.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) estimated that around 14 million people across Malawi, Madagascar, Zimbabwe and South Africa are at a serious risk of starvation. It is estimated that about 1,5 million people in Zimbabwe are at risk of hunger.
Government is on high alert and has so far secured $200 million towards drought alleviation and has granted importing permits to several grain importers.
The private sector initiative to import two million tonnes of maize for livestock and human consumption by June next year received a major boast as Mozambican rail and port authorities guaranteed a 10-day turnaround time and lower tariffs for grain destined for Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is one of the first Southern African countries that have secured the ports in Maputo for the importation of maize and wheat as the private sector moves in to assist Government to alleviate hunger that has been induced by the drought.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) director, Mr Paul Zakaria has urged farmers to harvest water during the rain season.
“All stakeholders in the private and public sector should learn to harvest water so that we can have sufficient water to irrigate our crops as a nation. The current water levels in the country’s major water sources are worrisome due to the fact that we are not harvesting water during the rain season.
“We can’t afford to leave water flowing to the Indian Ocean at a time when our agriculture is suffering due to lack of water in Kariba and all other water bodies that we rely on for our agriculture, industrial and electricity generation.
“The drought-prone areas such as Masvingo, Matebeleland North and South among others are a paradise to countries like Namibia, Algeria and Botswana which are predominantly deserts; yet they manage to harvest the little rain that they receive and we are failing to do that,” said Mr Zakaria.
More than 100 000 small scale tobacco farmers are set to benefit from drip irrigation projects being spearheaded by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) to boast yields.
The Ministry of Agriculture is currently doing a nationwide tour of the new irrigation equipment installed at Chabwino Farm in Mashonaland East, Mberengwa in Midlands, Chipfundi Farm in Mashonaland West and Cashel Valley Estate in Manicaland province.
“We are assisting our farmers with the irrigation equipment under the Brazil-Zimbabwe More Food Programme to take the edge off the perennial droughts that have affected the country in the past years.
“This scheme is mainly for the commercial farmers and the small-scale farmers that have already existing irrigation equipments. In most areas, the scheme has started working and has a potential of irrigating up to 1 800 hectares of land.
“We are moving from our traditional irrigation methods of sprinklers and furrow irrigation to the centre pivots and hose reel irrigation that can hose down bigger chunks of land so as to plant more hectares of crops than the traditional methods,” Dr Marapira said.
WFP is currently providing food assistance in 13 districts in Mwenezi, Masvingo where the pilot project has taken off and there are plans to upscale this support to 36 districts between January and March 2016, subject to availability of resources.
In November last year, WFP provided food assistance to 212 000 people under its Lean Season Assistance Programme and there are plans for this programme to reach 821 000 people this year.
Aid groups expected to mitigate drought effects
Mrs Winnie Chisi looks at the remainder of her crop in drought-stricken Zaka District
Following the declaration that the current season is a national disaster, many international aid groups are expected to chip in in mitigating the effects of the drought.
The national figure of people who are in need of urgent food assistance due to El Nino-induced drought has gone up from 1,5 million to 2,44 million.
At the sidelines of a multi-stakeholder meeting last week, Oxfam international executive director, Ms Winnie Byanyima said donors will source some funds for the El Nino-induced drought.
She said: “National rapid vulnerability assessment has just recently taken place and the first results were delivered last week in Bulawayo. There are no details yet but the headline figure is that the number of people in need of urgent assistance due to the El Nino drought has gone up from 1,5 million to 2,44 million people. This triggered the Government last week to declare a national disaster.
“This declaration will facilitate increased and quicker action. We met with our partners working in this area to seek their views on the crisis.
“In some places, people have not received any rains, some have not even planted yet and elsewhere crops are a write-off,” she lamented.
Many international aid organisations are in the process of securing funds to alleviate the effects of the drought.
World Bank has already disbursed $10 million to improve access and efficiency in water services to seven local growth centres.
Oxfam is currently running projects worth $3,98 million in Buhera, Chimanimani and Chiredzi districts.
The projects run from November 2014 to October 2018 and seek to scale up climate change adaptation measures and reduce the vulnerability of rural communities.
United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is involved in the creation of 900 small dams across the country to help with water harvesting for agricultural and industrial purposes.
“We call on international donors to rapidly respond to this declaration and commit funding for an urgent and comprehensive response. Oxfam and our partners are ready to respond and to scale up our current work.
“We underscore that early action to food insecurity is always more cost effective than late response, as well as reducing suffering for those affected. We call on the Government and its various ministries and departments, at capital, province and district level to do all it can to facilitate a swift and effective response,” Ms Byanyima said.
Government is in the process of building and rehabilitating more than 12 500 boreholes and 6 000 dams across the country. It has secured $200 million for the grain imports from Brazil, Ukraine, Russia and South Africa so as to make sure that no one starves during the drought.
