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Climate change jolts govt into action

Agriculture
Climate change

GOVERNMENT has warned that the country’s weather will become increasingly dry in the coming years as climate change continues to worsen in southern Africa.

“What informs us of where to go first is the (country’s natural) region. Region four or five are the focus with climate change with Zimbabwe predicted to become dry in the decades ahead and then availability of water. As you know we have 10 000 dams that are not fully utilised and therefore this is where the intervention is,” Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement minister Anxious Masuka said at a Press conference with Finance minister Mthuli Ncube at the launch of a US$20 million facility to support smallholder irrigation schemes this week.

Masuka said farmers now needed to diligently follow weather reports and forecasts in order to plan ahead for the new agricultural season.

“More specifically on the ground our ‘Agritex Business Advisors’ (an Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement ministry unit providing technical capacitation to farmers), as we now call them, will be on the ground to assist with the location-specific weather forecast. Last year, we had a false start and we don’t want to do that. We want to plant where we know the rains have come,” Masuka said.

Zimbabwe is divided into five agro-ecological regions, known as natural regions based on rainfall in the area. Region four refers to the low-lying areas in the north and south of the country which typically receives annual rainfall of 450-650mm, below the required amount, and faces severe dry spells during the rainy season, and frequent seasonal droughts.

Region five covers lowland areas below 900 metres above sea level in both the north and south of the country where rainfall is less than 650 mm/year and is sporadic.

Agriculture plays a key role in Zimbabwe, contributing 11% to the total gross domestic product and remains the main source of livelihood for around 67% of the country’s population.

According to a 2019 World Bank report on Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector, the country loses US$126 million per annum due to production risks largely associated with drought and other weather-related events.

Thus, the government has stepped up efforts to put in place mitigatory measures to allow farmers to continue farming using irrigation facilities to be powered by renewable energy.

In the 2021/22 agricultural season, crop output was significantly affected by incessant rainfall and midseason drought, resulting in many rural households being negatively affected.

Government is now under pressure to support farmers who are facing increasing effects of climate change.

“We will make sure that there is sufficient funding for each project to make sure it works in a way that is uninterrupted and continuous,” Ncube said.

For 2022, the government budgeted for 92 irrigation schemes, despite there being 400 smallholder irrigation schemes on 26 000 hectares.

“If only we could achieve five tonnes per hectare for wheat on these and perhaps a conservative seven or eight tonnes per hectare for maize then there that means the strategic grain requirement revised upwards of 1,5 million metric tonnes, we would be able to achieve it perhaps in the next two to three seasons,” Masuka said.

Further to the irrigation schemes, the government under the rural development programme will drill 35 000 boreholes nationwide with each of these associated with a village garden.

“Then there is a component where we have an extension of existing irrigation schemes, rehabilitation, extension of existing irrigation schemes, then also totally new irrigation schemes,” he said.

Follow Tatira on Twitter @tati_tatira

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