Climate change: A struggle for small-scale farmers

The beginning of March marked an eventful period for Zimbabwe in terms of the weather.
Conditions swiftly shifted from normal rains to sweltering temperatures and subsequently a tropical cyclone, all in a fortnight.

If ever there was slackening of attitude on the realities of climate change this must have served as a rude awakening.

However, the sustained high temperatures have already left much of the rain-fed crops with a permanent wilt.

“Even if the tropical cyclone were to cause rains they may not change much for small-scale farmers because the damage is already done,” says an extension officer in Mashonaland East.

If anything, tropical Cyclone Idai might just savage the wilting crop further.

And this spells doom for subsistence farmers whose livelihoods are dependent on rain-fed agriculture.

This tells of how far behind small-scale farmers are in terms of climate change adaptation and how deeper they are being pushed into poverty by each passing season.

In a study carried out in Zvishavane, scholars Davison Mugiya and Costa Hofisi found out that small-scale farmers are struggling to cope with climate change due to resource constraints, lack of access to credit and inputs.

“A significant number of participants mention lack of irrigation as a critical issue fuelling food insecurity in some regions,” the two scholars say in their report.

And the recent weather events have just exposed how small-scale farmers are so vulnerable.

For example, statistics show that subsistence farmers remain heavily reliant on rain-fed agriculture, a clear sign of failure to adapt to climate change.

According to Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVac) the national average household cereal production for rural families was on a sustained decline between 2014 and 2016 when the country experienced erratic rains.

The figure was 485kg in 2014 before sliding to 293kg in 2015 and to 126kg in 2016.

To show the rural farmer’s heavy reliance on the rains, the figure spiked to 480kg in 2017 on the back of an above normal season.

As rains performed badly in 2018 the figure again declined to 334kg and may decline further this year on the back of another bad season.

Without irrigation schemes, Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president, Mr Mr Wonder Chabikwa, believes it will be difficult for small-scale farmers to adapt to climate change.

“We have said before that perfect seasons are now a thing of the past due to climate change,” he said.

“As such there is need to adapt through investment in irrigation and water harvesting. A lot other things like tolerant seed varieties and modern farming techniques will go a long way in assisting small-scale farmers.”

Government has reiterated the importance of water harvesting and irrigation for sustainable farming in the face of climate change.

Yet only 22 percent of rural wards have irrigation schemes, of which only 55 percent are functional.

Dam projects have stalled while some major rivers gave in to siltation.

Organisations such as World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organisation have been doing various water harvesting and nutritious gardens projects but many are yet to benefit.

Another indication that small-scale farmers are yet to adapt to climate change is the choice to stick to the drought-prone maize varieties rather than the more tolerant small grains.

It has been observed that whilst small grain crops prove to be a viable option to boost production against the background of climate change vulnerability, the majority of small-scale farmers are not adopting such varieties enthusiastically, as it threatens their food preference.

And in all these troubles the rural farmer has to fight it alone as extension services have declined considerably.

At national level, the proportion of households which received agricultural training shows a downward trend from 34 percent in 2017 to 26 percent in 2018.

This has left farmers vulnerable to complex weather patterns and stubborn pests such as the fall army worm and tuta absoluta.

With most rural households relying on farming to pay school fees, secure food and buy property, a failure of the crop could condemn them to poverty. This could further make it difficult for them to source inputs to return to the field the following season.

With the rural population making up about 70 percent of the country’s population, this means that the majority of the population will be affected by poverty and food insecurity.

Experts predict that a third of this year’s maize crop will be affected by the erratic rainfall distribution. As such about 5,3 million people are expected to face food shortages this year. The United Nations has launched an international appeal for $234 million in emergency aid for Zimbabwe.

Government has reiterated that no-one will starve as measures have been put in place to guard against starvation. But if the country is to address issues of food shortages sustainably, climate change adaptation campaigns should be centred in the rural areas.