Online Reporter
Sunday Mail Reporter
THE Government is stepping up efforts to insulate the agriculture sector from the looming super El Niño, which forecasts indicate could potentially be the “strongest in living memory”.
On Friday, the United Kingdom’s Met Office said the coming El Niño could be “an unprecedented event”.
Other international forecasters warn that it could become one of the strongest on record since 1950, raising the risk of drought and food insecurity in Southern Africa.
Historical data has shown that local maize production drops by more than half while farmers take a hit of more than US$300 million in years when the cropping season is affected by the weather phenomenon.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development Professor Obert Jiri said the Government was strengthening climate-smart agriculture, water harvesting and soil conservation to protect production.
“Irrigation infrastructure and fertilisers are useless if the seed placed in the soil cannot withstand thermal stress, optimise water-use efficiency or resist emerging pathogens,” Prof Jiri said.
The Government is also targeting one million hectares under Pfumvudza/Intwasa this season as part of efforts to strengthen household food security under drier conditions.
Every household, Prof Jiri said, was expected to establish at least three Pfumvudza plots, with land preparation beginning while conditions remain dry.
The Government is accelerating the development of climate-smart crop varieties capable of withstanding heat and moisture stress while resisting pests and diseases such as the fall armyworm.
Modern breeding technologies could reduce the time required to develop new varieties from 10 to 12 years to four to six years, he said.
The Government also intends to build strategic grain reserves of 450 000 tonnes through successive seasons, supported by the country’s new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered silos.
Livestock is another major concern, with more than one million cattle reportedly dying during the 1991/1992 El Niño, while 44 766 deaths were recorded during the 2023/2024 drought.
Farmers are being encouraged to conserve grass, bale hay, retain maize stover and wheat straw, and establish fodder reserves before pastures deteriorate.
The Government is targeting seven million hay bales and promoting locally adapted breeds such as Mashona, Boran, Tuli and Nguni to strengthen livestock resilience.
Water security is also being prioritised after more than 12 000 boreholes dried up during the 2015/2016 El Niño, while 6 028 rural boreholes were dysfunctional during the 2023/2024 drought.
Prof Jiri called for financial institutions to redesign agricultural financing models around changing seasons and climate risks.
“As we build resilient food systems, our finance institutions must understand and design financing models that fathom changed seasons, transformed risk architecture and the value farmers create,” he said.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe has strengthened its wider disaster preparedness through the Early Warnings for All initiative, launched in Mutare on Thursday by the Meteorological Services Department (MSD).
The initiative seeks to move the country from simply forecasting hazards to anticipating their impacts and taking action before disasters strike.
It brings together the MSD, the Civil Protection Unit, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA), the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society and development and humanitarian partners to strengthen forecasting, warning dissemination and preparedness.
The focus is now on acting before the shock arrives — preparing fields, securing water and livestock feed, strengthening grain reserves and ensuring warnings reach communities early enough for farmers to act.
