Vusumuzi Dube
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
THE Bambanani Farmer Field School in Ward 14 of Bulilima District, Matabeleland South Province has become a haven for farmers in the area as they acquire knowledge that is transforming their agricultural activities.
Bulilima District is one of the arid regions of the country falling under natural region IV which normally receives very little rainfall which is poorly distributed through the cropping seasons.
The concept of farmer field schools is an extension approach that seeks to empower farmers with capacity to identify their own farming problems, map solutions, test and decide on solutions that work best to solve problems faced in their areas.
They equip farmers with the basic principles of soil, water and fertility management in order to enhance their capacity to manipulate soil processes and to make informed decisions about allocation and use of their limited resources.
The Bambanani Farmer Field School was set up with the assistance of the Enhanced Resilience for Vulnerable Households in Zimbabwe (ERVHIZ) project in 2021, and to date farmers in the area have undergone a number of agro-ecological soil fertility management training programmes.
In an interview, a farmer who is one of the beneficiaries of the school, Mrs Sikhululekile Dube said the hot and dry conditions in their area are coupled with poor soils that have resulted from fertiliser costs being beyond the reach of farmers.
“Fertiliser costs have been making it difficult for farmers to win in their cropping activities and it has always compromised food security. Due to crop failure induced by combined effects of droughts and poor soil fertility, there has been a trend where Bulilima families have been failing to harvest and secure enough grain to cater for consumption needs of their households,” she said.
“However, with the training programmes and the knowledge we have acquired from the Bambanani Farmer Field School, as farmers we are now able to use locally made organic fertilisers combined with mulch practice as a solution. We are now utilising biochar, thermal composts and manure liquid fertilisers which are made from local resources at zero cost.”
Mrs Dube said most farmers were opting for organic fertilisers to produce high yields in crop performance while costs of production have remarkably been reduced.
“As a re-oriented learning approach, Bambanani Farmer Field School has become a powerful micro and localised research site by farmers and for farmers’ problems in real farmer situations,” she said.
Matabeleland South agricultural rural development and advisory services, acting training specialist Mr Nkululeko Nyoni said farmers were actively participating in setting up farmer field schools.
“Crop and livestock farmer field schools have been set up throughout the seven districts of Matabeleland South that is Beitbridge, Bulilima, Mangwe, Insiza, Gwanda, Matobo and Umzingwane. Local leadership and farmers have been trained by agricultural extension officers on the concept, while the farmer uptake is pleasing and high,” said Mr Nyoni.
He said female leadership has also been demonstrated in farmer field schools, where different agricultural activities are being carried out.
The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development has set up over 24 000 farmer field schools, which are centres of agricultural excellence that address and showcase new agricultural technologies at sub-regional level.
Online Reporter