Runesu Gwidi Herald Correspondent
The Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) has trained over 1 000 communal farmers in the arid Mwenezi district on the production of small grains that are drought tolerant as part of efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change such as recurrent droughts.

Mwenezi is one of the driest districts in Masvingo and communities there rely mostly on Government and donor organisations for food assistance every year.

ZFU Masvingo regional manager Mr Jeremiah Chimwanda said his organisation wanted to improve food security at household level in the arid district hence the emphasis on small grains.

Mr Chimwanda said at least 100 farmers selected from 10 wards in the district underwent training in small grains production.

“We realised that Mwenezi was lagging behind in terms of crop production because of the perennial dry spells and decided to engage experts to educate a select group of communal farmers to produce small grains such as rapoko, sorghum and millet,” he said.

The ZFU Masvingo chief said plans were afoot to replicate the training in other dry districts in the province notably Chivi, Zaka and Chiredzi.

He said farmers that benefited under the training programme were drawn from Mukumi, Maranda, Neshuro and Mushava areas in the district.

Mr Chimwanda said his organisation wanted to complement Government efforts to improve food security by encouraging farmers in arid regions to grow drought-tolerant crops.

“We have discovered that in most parts of Masvingo most farmers are still insisting on crops such as maize but we are saying it is important to shift towards small grains such as rapoko and sorghum that are drought-tolerant and would ensure food security for communal farmers,” he said.

Government has been pushing for increased reliance on irrigation taking advantage of the abundance of water bodies as a panacea to recurrent food woes caused by droughts.

In the last farming season communal farmers in Chivi and Chiredzi realised a bumper small grains harvest with small grains producers in the Lowveld delivering a record over 30 000 tonnes to the GMB depot at Nandi in the Lowveld.