The Sunday Mail
Linda Mzapi
As the El Nino-induced drought takes a toll on Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector, maize yield has declined by 70 percent in the current season. The failure by maize, the country’s agricultural backbone, has seen some farmers harvesting next to nothing.
Resultantly, small grains have come to the rescue of the farmers.
The Presidential Agricultural Input Scheme was broadened to include other crops in an effort to fight the drought.
Through the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, the Government is distributing small grain seeds to farmers to help with food security.
The small grain project has seen areas in dry regions growing small grains in a bid to mitigate low harvests. The Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development who is responsible for crop production, Davis Marapira, said the Presidential Input Scheme is being expanded.
“The Presidential Agricultural Scheme is distributing small grain seed to facilitate the small grain project. As a Ministry we are encouraging the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda) to breed selected small grain seeds so that farmers can access the seeds,” he said.
Deputy Minister Marapira said Zimbabwean farmers perceive small grains as a primitive way of getting food.
“The problem with our farmers is that they take small grain seeds as a primitive way of getting food and you will find out that 5kg of sorghum is expensive in a shop because it is scarce. We encourage farmers to take the small grain policy seriously as a way of coping with the climatic changes that we are experiencing,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Community Technology Development Trust’s (CTDT) has joined to help fight climate change with its $1 million project.
The four-year project which will benefit 30 000 farmers from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi is aimed at exposing farmers to drought resistant small grain crops.
CTDT’s managing director, Mr Patrick Kasasa, said the project which is getting its funds from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), is promoting drought-resistant crops.
“This project is meant to promote crops like sorghum, groundnuts and rapoko which easily adapt to climate change. We want to expose farmers to new crops because their chances of survival are better than that of maize. Farmers are failing because they are growing maize only whilst there are other options to look at that may give them better chances of good harvests,” said Mr Kasasa.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU) president, Mr Wonder Chabikwa, said as farmers, they are concerned with climate change and how it is affecting farmers.
“As farmers, we are experiencing reduced crop yields and reduced grazing in dry seasons. The mitigation is drought resistant crops like pearl millet, rapoko and sorghum for dry land and irrigation,” said Mr Chabikwa.
CTDT’s project co-ordinator, Mr Hilton Mbozi, said their project is aimed at creating resilience.
“Farmers need to be resilient to climatic changes. Maize is failing but with small grains, they will increase their chances of harvesting.”
The project in Mutoko, Murehwa and Chipinge will be implemented through a Farmer Field School concept whereby farmers will first research on small grain crops that are suitable in their respective area then go on to grow them.
“Farmers are facing challenges in marketing the small grains but as the small grains become more common, people are now adapting and small grains are being included in everyday diets,” said Mr Mbozi.
He discouraged from practicing mono-cropping as this is the main reason why most of them are experiencing low harvests. About 500 trained farmers have recorded a 78 percent success rate in growing small grains.
