The Sunday Mail
Michael Tome
Business Reporter
GOVERNMENT says it has the formula to reduce the effects of climate change as the country prepares for the 2023/2024 summer cropping season, which is likely to be affected by El Nino.
Lands Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Permanent Secretary Professor Obert Jiri said this at the Agri-Business Forum convened by the Business Weekly in Harare on Friday.
The forum, which ran under the theme “Collaboration for a Sustainable Future: Agriculture and Business Working Together”, sought to foment synergies among the agriculture sector’s primary producers, input providers and manufacturers along the value chain.
While addressing delegates at the event, Prof Jiri said Government was hastening completion of irrigation projects, especially in drier areas of the country, and had since directed commercialisation of all smallholder irrigation schemes.
He further said seed houses had been urged to align crops and variety with agro-ecological regions as a way of fighting against climate change.
“Whether there is El Nino or not, we have a formula for climate-proofing and producing food. Government is working tirelessly in building resilience, and on disaster preparedness measures, with programmes such as climate-proofed agriculture, Pfumvudza.
“Esteemed colleagues, irrigation schemes are now playing a pivotal role in the face of climate change since it is now difficult to rely on rain-fed agriculture, thus the Government is working on improving irrigation infrastructure on old and new irrigation schemes through rehabilitation and expansion.
“In 2022, a total of 324 irrigation schemes of the 450 schemes were commercialised against a target of 200 by the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority.
“The Government is also taking on board programmes such as the Pedstock facility, the Smallholder Irrigation Revitalisation Programme,” Prof Jiri said.
Weighing in on the conversation, Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Dr Shadreck Makombe said support of vulnerable communities through improvement of agricultural irrigation systems would enhance the sustainability of these people’s livelihoods.
“We have been calling for climate-proofed agriculture for quite some time now and we continue to lobby for that because whether we like it or not, we are still going to be confronted by climate change, the change is real.
“The continued erratic rains and unpredictable weather patterns need a long-term solution as we cannot continue to rely on rain-fed crops, as an agrarian-based economy. The role of farmers is clear, they just need support through capacitation with irrigation equipment,” said Dr Makombe.
Business Weekly editor Herbert Zharare said Zimbabwe’s stature as an agro-based economy required serious conversations and action around climate-proofing of the agriculture sector.
“Given the centrality of small-scale farmers in Zimbabwe as far as national food security is concerned, I hope Government is working on mechanisation schemes that suit their size, as current schemes are concentrating on large-scale farmers,” said Zharare.
Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube is on record saying Zimbabwe’s agriculture needs to be climate-proofed so that it relies more on irrigation to enhance Zimbabwe’s adaptation to global warming.
Stakeholders in the sector have implored Government to come up with a “green budget” that considers financing sustainable methodologies to secure future farming initiatives so that livelihoods can recover from shocks of climate variability.
Sustainable Development Goal number 13 calls on governments across the globe to take urgent action to combat the effects of climate change.
As a result, Government has been immersed in crafting mechanisms to curb the negative effects of climate change.
As it stands, for the 2023/2024 summer cropping season, Government seeks to commit at least 70 316 hectares to irrigated maize production, with a potential of 400 000 tonnes-500 000 tonnes in production.
According to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, national dam level stands at 82 percent full across the country, which allows farmers to have more capacity to irrigate.
On the other hand, Government is earmarked to provide support to 3 million rural and 500 000 peri-urban beneficiaries, with region-specific input packages encompassing seed, fertiliser and chemicals.
The country has, of late, seen increased frequency and lengthy dry spells during the rainy season, and the severity of these changes is projected to grow going forward.
Zimbabwe has experienced extreme temperatures of 0,9 degrees Celsius above the average between 1901 and 2012 while the number of hot days has increased since 1950.
According to the World Bank and United Nations Development Programme, the country has also been witnessing a decline in average rainfall since 1915.
As such, this has presented major challenges to the agriculture-reliant livelihoods dotted across the country, hence the growing calls to increase support to this vulnerable constituency of the Zimbabwean population through irrigation support.
