YESTERDAY we reported that southern African countries, including Zimbabwe, are likely to receive above normal rainfall following the prediction of a La Nina season in the 2020/21 rainy season.

In a La Nina climate pattern, the winds above the Pacific Ocean are much stronger than usual, contributing to increased rainfall and the phenomenon occurs once every few years.

This is sweet news in the ears of hard-working farmers whose investments have been ravaged by successive droughts.

The last time the region experienced a La Nina rainy season was in 2016/ 2017, the last time Zimbabwe had meaningful rains.

Even before the latest forecast, Government got preparations for the 2020/21 farming season underway in the first quarter of the year with inputs distribution under the Presidential Input Scheme.

In April, Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga launched the 2020 Command Agriculture winter wheat planting programme at the late national hero Cde Elliot Manyika’s Bindura Farm, with a set national target of 416 000 tonnes.

This year the winter wheat programme benefited from uninterrupted electricity supplies. However, just above 40 000 hectares were put under wheat against the projected target of 80 000 hectares.

Last week, VP Chiwenga encouraged farmers to adopt oil seed farming in order to boost production in the country.

Officially launching the Climate Proofed Presidential Inputs Programme which is being run under the Pfumvudza programme at Nyabvuti Farm under Chief Chipuriro area in Guruve, VP Chiwenga, who chairs the Cabinet Food Security and Nutrition Cluster, urged farmers to focus on the soya bean and sunflower farming to boost oil seed production.

The programme is expected to benefit 1,8 million households which are expected to have three plots; one for maize, another for traditional crops and another for oil seeds.

The massive support from Government coupled with good rains points to a good farming season.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has already committed to prioritising Command Agriculture and Presidential Input Support Scheme programme in anticipation of a favourable rain season.

“We want to make sure that we give the farmers their inputs on time so that should not be an issue and we are working with banks to make sure that those seeking credit under Command Agriculture are able to access the credit in time,” he said.

“The economy is agriculture, it’s mining, it’s tourism, it’s industry. So, it is the macro-economy that is actually the economy. Our objective around agriculture is that we are food secure and can put food on the table and we have two programmes namely Command Agriculture which is commercial and the Presidential Input Scheme programme which is more social protection where we give inputs free to vulnerable families across the country.”

We urge local farmers and Government to shame the country’s detractors who have been riding on the wave of drought to make false claims about the failure of Command Agriculture, the Presidential Input Scheme and the Land Reform Programme.

Of late, they have gone as far as rubbishing the Global Compensation Deed agreement between the Government and white former farmers whose land was expropriated under land reform.

No doubt, self-hating Zimbabweans and their handlers have been praying for another drought but the gods had other plans.

To shame such people, comity is needed.

Food security is everyone’s business. We must all pull in the same direction to ensure a bumper harvest.