Govt rolls out drought mitigation measures

Addressing a Press conference in Harare yesterday, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development Permanent Secretary Professor Obert Jiri said Cabinet approval had paved the way for implementation of the comprehensive response plan.

Precious Manomano-Herald Reporter

GOVERNMENT has started rolling out measures to safeguard food supplies, support farmers, protect livestock and ensure adequate grain stocks in the anticipated lower rainfall 2026-2027 agricultural season as a result of an El Niño.

The measures, contained in the six-pillar response strategy, include strengthening the strategic grain reserve, promoting climate-smart agriculture, mobilising financing for summer production, protecting livestock from drought, securing grain supplies and strengthening coordination among Government agencies and the private sector.

Prof Jiri outlined the measures Government is putting in place ahead of the anticipated below-normal rainfall season.

“The approval means we can now go on to implement the plan. The critical aspect is not that the system will be dry, but that the rainfall will be less, and those two aspects are really affecting the system,” he said.

Government had deliberately adopted an early-response approach, drawing on lessons from previous droughts to ensure that interventions were implemented before shortages became acute.

The first pillar of the response focuses on enhancing the strategic grain reserve to ensure that grain is available for vulnerable groups during periods of reduced production.

Prof Jiri said the Government had a responsibility to protect vulnerable households during droughts, while also ensuring that the private sector continued to access grain required for business operations.

“We already know that every household must also be taken into consideration because there are people who need assistance. So, when we talk about the strategic grain reserve, the grain that is in the GMB is what can be enough for the vulnerable groups,” he said.

Government is also monitoring grain requirements from businesses, with those requiring additional supplies, over and above what will be available after the stocks are set aside for the vulnerable, being allowed to import.

The second pillar focuses on climate-smart agriculture, with farmers being encouraged to conserve the limited moisture available and adapt production to the expected drier conditions.

Prof Jiri said farmers would need to ensure that moisture was conserved from the beginning of the season, while production decisions should increasingly be linked to market demand.

“We need to conserve the little moisture that will be in any area where we are willing to put that seed. What a farmer grows must be dictated by the demand,” he said.

Climate-smart agriculture would remain important regardless of the agro-ecological region in which farmers were operating.

The third pillar involves the establishment of a financing architecture to ensure that farmers and agricultural institutions have access to resources needed for summer production.

Prof Jiri said Government was bringing together banks, the National Agricultural Enhancement Scheme, private contractors and other off-takers.

The Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA), as the country’s food security agency, is expected to produce cereals on at least 100 000 hectares during the summer season.

“We have to segregate the funding mechanisms. We know that ARDA will come in very strongly. As ARDA is the food security agent of the nation, we want them to be able to do at least 100 000 hectares of cereal production this summer,” he said.

Government was engaging other financiers and private-sector contractors to broaden the funding base for agricultural production.

“The financial architecture looks at how we can finance the summer. So far, so good. The banks are coming through. We are also seeing how much banks are taking with all those funding mechanisms,” said Prof Jiri.

The fourth pillar focuses on livestock drought mitigation, with Government tracking water and feed resources and encouraging farmers to make informed decisions about their herds.

Prof Jiri said farmers should first establish the amount of water and feed available to them before deciding whether to reduce livestock numbers.

“The first thing is to ensure that every livestock farmer understands their water resources. Secondly, it is to ensure how much feed resources they have. The decision to keep the livestock depends on the feed resources,” he said.

He said farmers who decided to sell some livestock to raise money for feed would be making a business decision, but Government was concerned about farmers being forced into distress sales because of drought.

“The decision to sell off or to downsize must be purely a business decision. If I should offload to be able to buy feed resources, then that is a business decision that a farmer must make,” said Prof Jiri.

The fifth pillar focuses on ensuring adequate grain supplies for both consumers and industry, with Government tracking available stocks and requirements while facilitating imports where necessary.

Prof Jiri said Government had also been engaging the business sector to ensure that companies continued to access grain needed for their operations.

The sixth pillar focuses on coordination, with the different interventions being monitored through committees involving Government and the private sector.

Committees would meet regularly to track implementation, assess requirements and ensure that emerging gaps were addressed in time.

“All these pillars are chaired by the private sector to ensure that each pillar is organised in a committee chaired every week. Whenever we see information that needs to be shared, it is made clear to all as we are going forward,” he said.

Government is also continuing to support the 3,5 million households targeted under its agricultural input programmes.

Prof Jiri said the anticipated drier season made it particularly important for farmers to use inputs efficiently and pay greater attention to soil health. Farmers should understand the condition of their soils and use testing to guide fertiliser application.

“This year, certainly, because it is dry, we would choose. We encourage farmers to watch the amount of fertiliser they apply; watching how much they apply will be critical,” he said.

The measures come as Zimbabwe prepares for a 2026-2027 summer season expected to receive below-normal rainfall, with Government seeking to protect national food production and livelihoods by acting before the effects of drought become more severe.

The six-pillar response therefore combines immediate food-security safeguards with measures aimed at maintaining agricultural production, protecting livestock and strengthening the country’s capacity to withstand the anticipated drier conditions.