Online Reporter
Theseus Mauruki Shambare
The Government, working with the World Food Programme (WFP) and implementing partners, has reached about 2 000 households in drought-prone Chipinge through an Integrated Rural Resilience Building intervention, while five Village Business Units (VBUs) established across Chipinge and Chiredzi are directly benefiting 240 farmers through irrigation, climate-smart agriculture and market-oriented production.
The broader intervention in Chipinge combines Food Assistance for Assets, the sesame value chain, climate-smart agriculture, ecosystem restoration and community infrastructure, while the five VBUs provide direct platforms for farmers to produce, access water, develop skills and connect with identified markets.
Of the 240 direct VBU members, 173 are women and 67 are men, with 95 farmers participating in the two Chiredzi VBUs and 145 in the three Chipinge units.
The five VBUs cover a combined 8.5 hectares and have generated US$8,279 in reported revenue, while farmers in three Chipinge wards have supplied 65.5 tonnes of sesame through the supported value chain.
The interventions come as Government and development partners seek to strengthen rural livelihoods ahead of the potential 2026/27 El Niño-induced drought, with the targeted communities facing recurrent droughts, erratic rainfall, water shortages and limited agricultural opportunities.
Beyond providing water for production, the VBUs are introducing a market-first approach in which farmers are encouraged to identify demand and potential buyers before deciding what to plant, how much to produce and when to plant.
In Chiredzi, Hama and Bandama VBUs cover 5.5 hectares and have 95 members, generating US$1,135 and US$435 respectively since April.
In Chipinge, Chidamoyo, Matikwa and Vheneka cover three hectares and have 145 members, generating US$3 071, US$2 731 and US$907, respectively.
Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development chief agronomist Ms Rutendo Nhongonhema said the interventions were promoting water-efficient technologies in response to climate pressures.
“Here behind me, you can see farmers are using smart agricultural technologies, drip irrigation for water conservation,” she said.
“This is a technology that we are encouraging our farmers, especially in the light of climate change, where we are having frequent droughts, we are having very little water, and we need to conserve. Every drop counts.”
She said farmers were also embracing the Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion (SHEP) approach, which encourages them to identify markets before planting.
“What we have also witnessed is that the farmers have embraced the SHEP approach, where we are encouraging our farmers to look for the market first and then come and grow,” she said.
“If you have got a market for your crops, when you come, you really work hard, and you increase productivity so that you can meet the expectations in terms of quality and quantity.”
In Chipinge, the three VBUs have also strengthened the sesame value chain, with 20.8 tonnes procured from Chidamoyo, 21,1 tonnes from Matikwa and 23,6 tonnes from Vheneka.
Manicaland Provincial Agricultural Development Advisory Services director Mr Nhamo Mudada said irrigation was particularly important in the dry southern parts of the province.
“In this region, rainfall is minimal. And because of that, we are drilling boreholes to take underground water to provide for these crops,” he said.
He said drip irrigation was helping farmers conserve scarce water.
“If you see the type of irrigation that we are using here, the drip irrigation, it saves a lot of water,” Mr Mudada said.
Mudada said the market-led approach was equally important.
“You have to produce a crop with a market that is ready,” he said.
“As a ministry with our different departments, we support them to get markets and contracts before they start to produce, so that you produce for a market.”
In Chiredzi, acting District Development Coordinator Ms Patience Mawarire said Government was expanding the VBU model, with 143 of the targeted 345 units already established across the district.
“Every village should have a village business unit, so of the 345 that we have to establish, we have already established about 143 in the whole district,” she said.
She said irrigation would help communities cope with the district’s dry conditions.
“If we establish irrigation schemes as well as village business units, it will go a long way in trying to help our communities since we are in a very dry region as compared to other districts,” she said.
Beyond the 240 direct VBU farmers, water infrastructure at Matikwa and Chidamoyo is benefiting more than 750 livestock, while the broader Chipinge intervention has combined agricultural support with ecosystem restoration, savings groups and community infrastructure.
At Vheneka, farmers have supplied 23,6 tonnes of sesame under rain-fed production, although the VBU garden is not yet producing pending completion of water-source development.
The figures show the intervention operating at different levels: 2 000 households reached through the broader Chipinge resilience programme, 240 farmers directly participating in five VBUs across the two districts, more than 750 livestock benefiting from VBU water infrastructure, 65.5 tonnes of sesame procured and US$8 279 generated by the five gardens.
The model is therefore moving beyond seasonal food production to combine water security, climate-smart farming, market access and income generation as communities prepare for increasingly unpredictable rainfall.
