Communal farmers shun small grains
August 12, 2012 in Local
By Moses Chibaya
COMMUNAL farmers living in dry Regions IV and V continue to shun growing
small grains suitable for their areas, prompting calls for researchers to
develop maize varieties that suit those areas.
Speaking at a climate change workshop for the civil society and media in
Harare recently, an expert on climate change, Douglas Gumbo, said naturally
most farmers in dry Regions iv and v prefer growing maize and he so
encouraged researchers to develop varieties that are drought resistant.
“I am challenging researchers to develop maize varieties that can be grown
in Region IV and V,” said Gumbo. “Farmers prefer maize instead of the small
grains that are being promoted. They have been growing maize before climate
change.”
For a long time now, government has been encouraging villagers in the two
drought prone regions to grow small grains which are naturally
drought-resistant, in addition to adopting sustainable agricultural
practices.
Small grains such as millet and sorghum can survive adverse weather
conditions and they are more suitable for long-term storage.
However, they remain unpopular with most communal farmers in arid areas
because they require a lot of labour and are prone to quelea birds.
Gumbo said the changing climatic patterns have resulted in food insecurity
in some areas as the hectarage of land under the staple maize crop declines.
“The challenge to researchers is on which variety they are supposed to
develop that suits the current climatic conditions. There is something that
can be done in a desert by bringing in appropriate technologies rather than
force people to drop certain things that they are used to,” said Gumbo.
“It’s a matter of improving the product so that it suits the market, the
current environment and choices of people.”
People living in Regions iv and v continue to bear the brunt of climate
change, with crop yields declining as prolonged droughts and erratic rains
take toll.
An estimated 1,6 million people are likely to require food assistance in the
coming “hunger season” from January to March in Zimbabwe, according to a new
report recently released by the United Nations and its partners.
“The UN World Food Programme (WFP) and our partners are gearing up to
respond to this large rise in food needs,” said WFP’s Country Director for
the African nation, Felix Bamezon.
“Our field staff are already reporting signs of distress in rural areas,
including empty granaries and farmers selling off their livestock to make
ends meet.”
In addition, the number of people in need right now is 60% higher than the
one million who needed food assistance during the same time last year.
WFP has said it would undertake food distribution of regionally procured
cereals as well as imported vegetable oil and pulses to meet the increased
food needs.
The report says Masvingo, Matabeleland North and South, and parts of
Mashonaland, Midlands and Manicaland are the worst-affected areas.