Govt, Higher Life in partnership to drive climate smart agriculture

Sunday Mail Reporter

Private players have taken heed of Government calls to come on board and complement its efforts aimed at enhancing agricultural production in the country.

Addressing farmers during the launch of a partnership between the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development and Higher Life Foundation in Hwedza on Friday, the ministry’s chief director Mr Samuel Zimunga said partnerships are key to promoting diversity in the agricultural sector.

“As Government, we have adopted an approach that when you look at the sustainable development goals they emphasise the importance of partnerships,” he said.

“It is these partnerships that move us forward as a country, so with this partnership we will go places and we are going to make sure that the agrarian reform, the agrarian transformation, and the transformation of livelihoods is going to continue.”

The partnership is aimed at supporting climate-smart agriculture through the provision of inputs to smallholder and communal farmers.

In Hwedza at least 2 200 farmers received farming inputs which included compound fertilizers, top fertilizers, herbicides, maize seed, and sugar bean seed.

This initiative is one of Higher Life Foundation’s development pillars in health and education.

Higher Life Foundation’s Head of Rural Transformation and Sustainable Livelihoods Mr Tinashe Shayi
“We are in this to complement Government’s initiative and our current key focus is driving sustainable livelihoods through training communities and driving the adoption of climate-smart agricultural technologies and innovations,” he said.

“The project has made significant strides in supporting rural farmers in 14 wards of Shamva and Mt Darwin districts, with a total of 6,455 households benefiting.

“For the farming season (2022-23), the project expanded its reach and supported a total of 8,503 households (25,509 plots or 1,594 hectares) in Shamva, Mt Darwin, and Wedza districts, through the provision of inputs (maize, groundnuts, and sugar beans) and training, complementing government efforts in achieving household food security and nutrition.”