adminWalter Mswazie Masvingo Correspondent
ABOUT 50 percent of maize and small grains grown in Masvingo province this farming season has wilted amid the protracted dryness, the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs, Cde Shuvai Mahofa has said. She however, said those facing hunger must not panic as government was working on the food importation modalities.
“I don’t want to give statistics off-hand but the underlying fact is that people are in need of food. There’s looming drought in districts like Bikita, Chivi, Mwenezi and Chiredzi. Government is doing something about the situation.
“We had an inter-ministerial meeting recently where the issue of food security was discussed at length,” said Cde Mahofa.
She said the province recorded more than 50 percent crop failure after maize and small grains succumbed to moisture stress.
Cde Mahofa said drought mitigation schemes were going to be introduced while government will meet its obligations of feeding people.
“It’s not a secret that there is drought in Masvingo especially in the districts I’ve mentioned. The extent of drought is beyond expectation,” she said.
Mwenezi District Administrator, Stanley Chamisa, confirmed the poor state of crops in his district.
He said most crops were a write-off and villagers in affected areas have released their livestock into the fields.
“Most of our people in Mwenezi are in need of drought relief because most, if not all crops, are a complete write-off. The situation is so critical that government should act as a matter of urgency. People have since released their livestock into the fields because crops have wilted,” said Chamisa.
Chivi District Administrator, Bernard Hadzirambwi and his Bikita counterpart Innocent Matingwini presented equally gloomy pictures of the situation in their respective districts.
“While we haven’t received the vulnerability assessment report from Agritex, I can confirm that there is drought in Chivi district. About 36,000 households will not harvest anything due to excessive heat that resulted in crops suffering serious moisture stress,” he said.
Matingwini said his area has a total of 37, 739 households and half of them will need food relief after their crop suffered moisture stress.
He said Bikita has a population of 161, 701 and half of them will need food aid.
Online Reporter