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Elita Chikwati Senior Agriculture Reporter
India has handed over small grains production inputs and training material to the World Food Programme(WFP) for building resilience of smallholder farmers in Mangwe and Chiredzi districts.
The India-UN Development Partnership Fund supports 5 200 smallholder farmers in Chiredzi and Mangwe districts.
The inputs, comprising sorghum and African peas, basal and top dressing fertilisers, will be will be distributed to 3 484 farmers from Mangwe and 2 602 in Chiredzi.
Indian Ambassador Shri Vijay Khanduja said India has contributed US$1 million through the fund for climate resilient agriculture in Chiredzi and Mangwe districts which is expected to benefit 6 000 farmers.
“This particular project is of special importance to me. I am happy to see the project roll out in less than a year.
“We all want to see farmers happy and prosperous because it’s a contribution to a pertinent issue. We have a challenge of climate change and once we give some alternative solutions, we actually aid in its mitigation.
“India gave US$150 million in 2017 spread over five years to help achieve projects which are compliant with the sustainable development goals 2 and 3,” he said.
The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development director for Agritex, Mr Stancilae Tapererwa said the donation came at the right time when Government was promoting climate smart agricultural practices for improved household food and nutrition security through the Pfumvudza Intwasa Presidential Inputs Scheme.
“We are grateful for the support WFP and other development partners are offering to our farmers. The inputs we are receiving today from India as a support to our extension programmes for vulnerable households is one of the support our Government cherishes from development partner countries such as India through the United Nations support to the WFP,” he said.
WFP representative and country director, Ms Francesca Erderlmann said this year they had empowered smallholder farmers in rural areas to better prepare for climate related events such as recurring droughts reaching 6 500 people across Chiredzi and Mangwe.
“In Zimbabwe, smallholder farmers have been affected by food insecurity over the past years. Many people in rural areas particularly women, make up a significant proportion of the agricultural sector.
“We supported these vulnerable people during the critical time, barely recovering from prolonged years of drought, unpredictable weather patterns and then compounding impacts of Covid-19 and limited livelihood opportunities.
“The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has provided strong expertise through technical transfer of knowledge to smallholder farmers, to ensure better agricultural practices are adopted, such as post- harvest loss management.
Agritex has supported farmers with training and skills building from the outset of the programme,” she said.
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