Famine in Somalia is Africa’s wake-up call

agricultural productivity and increase the frequency and severity of droughts that jeorpadise food production and security.
The effects of climate change on agriculture are painful.

Today, average temperature and changing rainfall patterns in Zimbabwe increase the threat of hunger.
Although we cannot adequately reverse the effects of nature, there is something we can do to address food security and impact of climate change on agriculture.
Innovative small-scale farming practices, particularly conservation agriculture can be useful for households and communities in adapting to climate change and global warming.
Conservation agriculture encompasses sustainable use of natural resources through an integrated management of available soil, water and biological resources.

It aims to conserve, improve and make more efficient the use of natural resources in crop production at the same time contributing to environmental conservation.
Capacitating households and the promotion of better farming methods are crucial for improving sustainable food production, optimal land use and increased water resource management.
Smallholder farming innovations can be quickly implemented with local capacity, have short turnover periods and could potentially generate spontaneous uptakes rather than supply-driven uptakes.
Given that climate change directly affect households and communities, it is generally easy to deal with these groups to effectively tackle the effects of changing climatic conditions.

Moreover, community-based strategies are simple to implement and therefore more efficient, effective and can be evenly distributed as opposed to the common agriculture technique that starts from the top to the bottom.
This way small-scale farmers can help create and enhance environmentally sustainable practices that increase agriculture productivity without seriously disrupting the ecological balance.
Harare agribusiness development expert Mr Midway Bhunu reckons that it is imperative to build resilience in communities in the fight against the effects of climate change.

He said practising conservation agriculture would be very critical “to try and recover our natural resource”.
When well practised, agriculture will assist in recovering the balance of the ecosystem and when that happens crops can be grown sustainably for consumption.
“What is most important for agriculture to be an effective tool of adaptation is to emphasise on good agriculture practices,” explained Mr Bhunu.
“Farming methods at household level need to be sustainable . . . and an aggregate (small-scale farmers) can cause a very positive impact on national food security.”

Conservation farming has proven to work in countries like Brazil and Uganda.
Experiments in Uganda showed that it costs US$100 to prepare an acre of land using conventional methods.
However, with conservation agriculture only 25 percent of the cost is needed to prepare the same piece of land.
Apart from this, these agricultural techniques have allowed farmers to grow more food, move away from food aid and donor dependence.

The sustainable approach increases the use of chemical or fertilisers and pesticides synonymous with large-scale mechanised farming while at the same time saving farmers money, reducing pollution and allowing depleted soils to recover.
“We must shift our focus to a food system that nourishes the planet without compromising the soils, crop diversity and fresh water on which all depend,” says a new United Nations research in Kenya titled “Using Small- Scale Adaptations to Address Food Crisis in The Horn of Africa”. Food systems refer to the line of actions linking food production, processing distribution and access, consumption and waste management including policy mechanism.

The study states: “The present paradigm of intensive crop production cannot meet the challenges of the new millennium. “Investing in new food production model using small-scale, fiscal stimulus that mobilises the untapped potential of local people is imperative for unleashing a food secured society.
“Small-scale democratic processes can provide a mechanism to find sustainable solutions to the problem of food security, and such processes have the potential to spread benefits much more evenly across communities of farmers and consumers alike.”

The famine and hunger in Somalia, which has affected more than 10 million people is a wake-up call for Africa to increase and reawaken attention on food and agriculture, food security and its debilitating effects on the rural poor.
These impacts are worsened by climate change which only hightens the need for increased preparedness to achieve higher production levels and eliminate hunger.

Rising food prices and the threat of population growth worsen the situation.
Sub-Saharan Africa is presently regarded as the most food insecure region in the world, according to the UN.
More than 80 percent of its population are rural dwellers with many of them small-scale farmers facing numerous challenges including climate change, resource scarcity, government neglect and severe ecological degradation.

In Zimbabwe, the UNDP in conjunction with Government have been carrying out a pilot project in the Lowveld “Coping with Drought and Climate Change”, which attempts to provide adaptation options for those communities severely affected frequent droughts and climate change.

The project has come up with alternative farming practices and crop varieties best suitable for the region, which is drought prone. On a national scale, however, food security remains a major concern.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation estimated that at least 1,7 million people would be in need of food and agriculture assistance this year despite significant improvement in food supplies between 2008 and 2010. Government recently released 50 000 tonnes of maize as food aid for rural families.

The most affected families are those in dry regions that include Matabeleland North and South and some parts of the Midlands.
This is where smallholder farming comes into play. It eliminates most of the deficiencies found in large-scale farms although challenges such as funding and lack of clearcut policy directions are still prevalent.

The widespread production of cash crops such as tobacco in small-scale farming does not help matters.
It takes up land that may have been used for growing food crops and yet it is also known that current tobacco curing methods are a menace to the environment.
Huge tracts of forests have been destroyed to source fuel to cure tobacco.

Future agriculture plans should start taking small-scale solutions seriously as a measure to achieving food security and adapting “our farming systems to the challenge of climate change”.
Small food producers must be prioritised as opposed to promoting food production in vast units feeding world markets.
God is faithful. Let’s share ideas on the climate story.