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Talent Chimutambgi and Patience Maturure
Herald Reporters
Zimbabwe has made strides in its revolutionary response to the El Nino-induced drought which had negatively impacted the country’s agriculture sector, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Climate and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka has said.
In his presentation on “Climate Smart Innovations to Improve Agricultural Production, in Zimbabwe in Pursuit of Vision 2030” at Zimbabwe National Defence University (ZNDU) yesterday, Dr Masuka outlined various interventions that Government is undertaking to counter-balance the adverse of climate change.
He said the top priority was focusing on uplifting at least 62 percent of the population reliant on subsistence agriculture and promoting rural industrialisation and development to encompass everyone in economic development and social progress.
Agriculture is highlighted as a core driver of economic growth, contributing significantly to industry and employment. It is noted that 60 percent of raw materials for the industry come from the sector.
Dr Masuka said Government was targeting a green belt that would be made possible through accelerated Presidential Borehole Scheme and dam construction targeting all the country’s 35 000 villages countrywide.
“The increasing population in an environment which is also increasingly drying demands climate-smart agriculture. There are an increasing number of desert locusts in the desert region owing to climate change. We are currently challenged by the armyworm, literally every field is affected due to elevated temperatures and increased dryness,” said Dr Masuka.
“This is under the rubric of Rural Development Aid intervention, which is a cocktail of outcome-based and impact-based interventions designed to leave no one and no place behind. They are designed to mainstream everyone to Vision 2030. Rural development will catalyse the attainment of the national goals and priorities,” he said.
“The first and major attainment was the realisation that we needed to climate-proof agriculture, that has to be a business, so we now have agriculture food systems and a rural transformation strategy which is based on climate change and climate-smart interventions,” said Dr Masuka.
He highlighted that the climate-proof smart agriculture was paying off, and is now targeting 1,8 million tonnes by the year 2028 to guarantee food security in the country at all levels.
“We have 10 600 dams with 217 000 hectares under irrigation currently and our target is 496 000 by 2028 to get 1,8 million tonnes which will enable the country to feed itself with 1,4 million tonnes, and the remaining 400 000 tonnes will be allocated for animal feed,” he said.
He said the introduction of both poultry and goats Presidential Schemes were also augmenting sustainability in food sufficiency in rural communities.
He said the maize production trend between 2018 and 2025 increased tremendously marking the success of the climate-smart interventions.
Dr Masuka spoke of the interventions that have been made in the country’s national herd security through the distribution of tick grease to reduce related diseases.
“We have also intervened by introducing smaller stock poultry and goats in the rural areas, because dip tanks are running out of water, we have also introduced the distribution of tick grease at the household level to control ticks and related diseases,” said Dr Masuka.
He said Government established village business units in various communities as part of aiding accessibility to markets, as well as sustainability at the household level.
“We are also doing 4800 youth business units, and 9600 school business units so this will complement the sustainable intensive conservation agriculture model Pfumvudza to ensure that there is food security at the household level and that households can generate surplus to become economic participants,” he said.
He also revealed that the Government was on a drive to establish at least two fish ponds in every village under the Presidential Fishery Programme.
“On fishery, there is the conventional fishery programme under which the private sector-led farms are producing tilapia. The Government has responded through the Presidential Fishery Programme where we want at least two fish ponds per village, so wherever we put a village business unit we also establish a fish pond.”
“Currently, Zimbabwe is producing 30 000 tonnes of fish across a demand somewhere around 60 000 tonnes. When these 35 000 village business units are fully operational, we will be able to produce 40 000 tonnes”.
Online Reporter