Zimbabwe Farmers Tackle Climate Change
Farmers See Solution in Drought Resilient Crops
By Shahed Mutaz
A smallholder farmer named Bernard Mupindi recalls producing sunflowers for his family’s consumption around a decade ago while he was clipping the tough, hairy triangular leaves that grow around the stem of a sunflower, but he had no clue how quickly things would change. He had no idea that planting sunflowers might soon help to mitigate the consequences of climate change.
In October 2019, the father of three received drought-resilient crop farming training, which has proven critical to his business today. He claims to have received instruction at the Agricultural Business Center (ABC) in Gokwe, which employs a pro-business investment approach to assist smallholder farmers with high income-generating potential.
Alleta Muzenda, Mupendi’s wife, also participated in ABC’s capacity-building training program and describes how it assisted them in earning a living through sunflower growing. “I used to grow cotton, maize as well as sunflowers on a small piece of land. Back then we used to have better rains in this area.”
According to Savirios Chingura, another smallholder farmer in Gokwe South, the magic of sunflower and other drought-resistant crops is that they can withstand the dry season for a month. Other crops, such as maize, cannot withstand two weeks without proper water.
Hlekiso Mupindi, the village chief of Mupindi, believes drought-resistant crops have shown to be beneficial in protecting his community from starvation while also minimizing the effects of climate change.
Mango and Sunflower Drying
ABC also uses the sun to dry mangoes at their processing plant in Gokwe Centre for distribution in shops around the country. Farmers in Gokwe were unable to go to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, 300 kilometers away, to sell their fresh mangoes because of Coronavirus restrictions, resulting in an overabundance of the fruit.
They were saved, however, by a dried fruit manufacturing facility that will start in November 2020. Dried mangoes are more expensive than fresh mangoes and are popular during the off-season of the fruit.
“Farmers will be shareholders through the Farmers in Action Cooperative and thus have the possibility to guide the actions and decide with the other shareholders on how to reinvest profits,” Thomas Heyland tells Euronews Living.
Zimbabwe’s Food Insecurity
The UN World Food Programme predicted that 60 % of Zimbabweans were food insecure at the end of 2020 for various reasons. Zimbabwe is in the grip of its greatest economic crisis in decades. The cost of basic commodities, such as maize, the primary cereal, has risen beyond the means of many people. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, an estimated 1.1 million tonnes of grain was imported last year to meet demand.
Learn more about sunflower & dry mango drying and get involved.
