Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza
FOR years, the Dube family in Kombo Village, Insiza District, barely harvested a combined tonne of maize, pearl millet, sorghum or groundnuts, and conveniently blamed poor soils and erratic rains in the area for the poor yields.
The couple somehow became content surviving from the meagre yields they harvested from their piece of land and selling surplus to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) remained a pipe dream.
By her own admission, Lita Dube, said the thought of harvesting enough food just to scrap by until the following harvest was no longer inspiring and she almost gave up on farming.
Fast forward to November 7, 2025 and the Dube family are regarded as one of the many model communal farmers that have transformed their lives by implementing Government’s climate-proofed agricultural programme — Pfumvudza/Intwasa initiative.
From harvesting less than a tonne of a combined four different crops, Patrick Dube (71) and his wife Lita (59) now reap in excess of three and a half tonnes of produce from a relatively small plot that sits just behind their humble home in Kombo village.
At the end of the 2024/25 summer cropping season after a successful implementation of the tenets of the Intwasa/Pfumvudza programme that best suited the weather patterns and soil type of Insiza, the family harvested two tonnes of maize from an average of 0,5 tonnes that they were accustomed to.
Their sorghum yield improved from just 0,15 to 0,65 tonnes while they harvested 0,3 tonnes of pearl millet from just 100kg. The family harvested 0,8 tonnes of groundnuts from the usual average of 0,1 tonnes.
In total, the couple realised a remarkable combined harvest of 3,75 tonnes from the four crops that they had planted earlier in the seasons.
The remarkable successful farming story of the couple is a reflection of the national outlook of the Pfumvudza programe that is targeting 3,5 million households nationwide under the Presidential Inputs Scheme.
The Pfumvudza model — centred on conservation farming, efficient water use and improved soil management — continues to be a cornerstone of Zimbabwe’s agricultural transformation and food security strategy amid the growing threat of climate change.
Yesterday, hundreds of villagers from Kombo and surrounding communities converged at the Dube homestead to witness the launch of the National Pfumvudza that was officiated by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister, Dr Anxious Masuka.
The minister was joined by Provincial Ministers Albert Nguluvhe of Matabeleland South, Ezra Chadzamira of Masvingo and Misheck Mugadza of Manicaland and the Minister of Industry and Commerce Mangaliso Ndlovu, in his capacity as the Zanu PF Matabeleland South provincial chairman.
Other provincial ministers were represented by their permanent secretaries or senior Government officials. Mrs Dube told the crowd how Intwasa had changed her family’s life.
“Unlike conventional farming methods that require farmers to till their land using tractors or cattle drawn ploughs, Pfumvudza allows farmers who cannot afford hiring equipment to use just their hands to prepare the land.
“To my fellow villagers the excuse that you don’t have cattle or donkeys to till your land is not good enough because we are all able bodied and can dig Intwasa holes using our hands,” she said.
In a side interview, the 59-year-old woman said the benefits of practicing Intwasa are too great for farmers to ignore.
“The soils here in Insiza are not the best for rain fed agriculture but Intwasa allows farmers to use livestock manure in a single hole instead of spreading it across the whole field where it will have zero value to the crops,” she said.
“I can safely say that Pfumvudza changed our lives. We started practicing it two years ago and we are already seeing the benefits of Intwasa and we are not looking back.”
The couple received seed, fertiliser and chemicals as part of the Presidential Inputs Scheme that supports the Pfumvudza programme every year.
The family joined scores of other villagers, including traditional leaders, that also benefited from the Presidential Inputs Scheme.
As part of the Pfumvudza programme each household across the country will receive inputs tailored to its agro-ecological region to ensure maximum productivity and climate adaptation.
Farmers in Regions 1 and 2, which receive higher rainfall, will receive 10kg maize seed packs, while those in Region 3 will get 5kg.
In the drier Regions 4 and 5, households will receive 2kg of drought-tolerant small grains such as sorghum, pearl millet, and finger millet.
Each beneficiary will also receive a 50kg bag of basal fertiliser, top-dressing fertiliser and lime to enhance soil health and productivity.
The input distribution model aims to ensure that every farmer across Zimbabwe plants appropriate crop varieties that match local climatic conditions, thereby promoting climate resilience and food self-sufficiency.
In his remarks, Minister Masuka said since the launch of the Pfumvudza scheme by Government in 2020, a suitable venue is selected around the country to signal the commencement of inputs distribution for the summer season.
“Last year we were at Chief Gwebu in Buhera, Manicaland Province. The Pfumvudza/ Intwasa Programme is a science-tested and fact-based sustainable intensive conservation agriculture model that is climate-smart and is part of building a resilient system to the ever-increasing calamities of climate change,” he said.
“The Dube family has amply demonstrated the growth of the programme with their harvest increasing from 0,5 tonnes to 3,75 tonnes, which represents 341 percent increase since they adopted Pfumvudza.”
Dr Masuka said agriculture has grown from a US$5.6 billion industry in 2020 to US$10,3 billion in 2025 while it’s poised to become a US$15,8 billion industry by 2030.
