adminRumbidzai Mbewe, Farming Correspondent
THE Anglican Church in partnership with Agricultural Extension Services (Agritex) has embarked on a project to grow drought resistant crops in Ntabazinduna, Matabeleland North.
The project comes at a time when the country is experiencing a drought and experts have been urging farmers to concentrate on small grains that are drought tolerant.
In an interview, project officer Mr Mkhululi Hadebe said as a church their main objective was to improve food security in the community of Ntabazinduna with 17 hectares of sorghum having been planted.
“The only way to beat this drought is by introducing drought tolerant crops such as sorghum and sugar beans. As a church we want to lead by example hence we have planted 17 hectares of sorghum at our farm. We will continue planting sorghum and sugar beans until people realise that this is the way to go,” he said.
Mr Hadebe said a number of farmers in the area were embracing the growing of the small grain crops as they are realising the benefits.
“After seeing the benefit of growing small grains, most farmers are adopting the project. Some of the farmers are even approaching us for advice and it looks promising,” he said.
Mr Hadebe said the project was not selective to the Anglican community but was open to everyone. He said 250 households were involved in the projects.
“This project is open to everyone, it’s non-partisan. What we are doing as a church is giving means to the community.
So far the people involved include the village heads, councillors as well as schools. Even though our budget is small, we are trying by all means to involve everyone,” he said.
So far the project has been a success as farmers have harvested grain from their land.
“We are happy that farmers managed to harvest something from their land. We were hoping for more but some of the grain was affected by the heat wave,” he said.
Anglican Church diocesan development officer Mr Ronald Lumbiwa said the project was being implemented in line with President Mugabe’s 10- point plan which among others seeks to maximise agricultural productivity in the country.
He said objectives of the project was to improve agricultural yield as well as providing nutritious food sources for orphans and vulnerable children living with care givers.
“Besides providing nutritious food sources, we want to improve the technical skills and knowledge of the vulnerable households and farm group members in applying climate smart technologies and management practices,” he said.
Online Reporter