Stakeholders seek clarity on soil conservation policy funding

THERE is a need for funding clarity on the implementation and sustainability of the proposed National Soil and Water Conservation Policy whose consultative process is still underway nationwide.

This emerged during a consultative workshop, a brainchild of the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development through the Department of Engineering, Mechanisation and Soil Conservation, which was held at a Bulawayo hotel yesterday.

The policy is meant to guide the protection and management of water bodies and land, in line with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).

Delegates, who included catchment area management stakeholders, farmers, miners, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), farmer organisations, scientists, academia and industry representatives, said there must be a clear guideline on how the policy implementation will be funded, otherwise, all the good intentions behind the policy will suffer a stillbirth.

“Where will the money to implement and sustain the policy come from? We need clarity on that important aspect. We can come up with a beautifully worded policy but without a clear source of funding, we will still be at zero,” said Mr Adrian Nguchini.

Mr Nguchini’s views were held by most of the delegates, including the facilitator and policy consultative process consultant, Mr Kuda Mpofu from Pluperfect Environmental Consultants.

“I am also worried about funding for this policy, we can spend our time ironing it and have it approved but will it be properly implemented without a clear source of funding. We however, take your genuine concerns and shall further consult,” said Mr Mpofu.

The vision of the soil and water conservation policy is to reduce soil and water losses due to land degradation and other activities that pollute the environment to a greater extent while its mission is to support Vision 2030 by achieving an upper middle-income economy through economic growth, biodiversity, sustainable agriculture and food security, eradicating poverty, the empowerment of women, addressing climate change, improving water availability and proper management of natural resources.

Healthy soils are a prerequisite to meeting varied needs for food, biomass (energy), fibre, fodder, and other products, and to ensuring the provision of essential ecosystem services in all regions of the world. However, humankind is facing unprecedented pressures on soil resources. In particular, soil degradation of various types including sealing due to fast urbanisation is taking a heavy toll, threatening food security and ecological balance.

Zimbabwe faces significant soil erosion, degradation, and desertification issues, largely due to unsustainable agricultural practices, deforestation, and overgrazing. A soil conservation policy would help address these challenges by promoting practices that preserve and restore soil health.

Soil conservation measures improve soil fertility, water retention, and resilience to droughts, thus supporting sustainable agricultural practices and ensuring food security for the population.

The draft policy was initially set to be presented in August 2023 but was halted because of competing priorities as the nation was also preparing to hold the harmonised elections, according to the chief director in the Department of Engineering, Mechanisation and Soil Conservation, Engineer Edwin Zimunga.

“The draft policy could not be ready in August 2023 due to competing priorities, we had elections and funding for that particular exercise had to be stopped especially the stakeholder validations to hold meetings when people were in a political mood. We are now doing that so that we can take it to the next level,” said Eng Zimunga.

He said the soil and water conservation policy will make sure that the country was aligning with the international water soil charter.

The Second Republic has implemented several policies aimed at improving soil conservation and promoting sustainable agriculture and these are Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy (2020-2025), National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) 2021-2025, Command Agriculture programme, Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme (2019), the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (2013-2020) and Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset) (2013-2018).