Food crisis looms as rains destroy crops in Buhera
January 13, 2013 in Community News
BUHERA — The current rains have been a relief to many farmers around the
country, but not for communal farmers in Buhera district.
BY TAWANDA MARWIZI
Several villagers have been left stranded and face severe food shortages
after their crops last week were swept away by the heavy rains.
The rains left some of the fields with deep gullies and also swept away
perimeter fences, making it easier for livestock and wild animals to feed on
what had been left of the crops.
Villagers who spoke to Standardcommunity said they were facing another year
of food crisis following the destruction of the crops. “The fields have been
destroyed already, which is likely to be another year of hunger,” said one
of the villagers, Mainos Zvakare.
“We have not been receiving such heavy rains for the past nine years and we
have been on record having drought for all these years.”
Buhera is one of the semi-arid districts in the country which constantly
experiences food shortages owing to poor rains.
An agricultural extension officer, Robson Masaiti, also said the erosion
caused by the rains was likely to result in another drought in the district.
“The rains are heavy and our soils are very poor that they can’t hold it,
resulting in severe erosion in the fields,” said Masaiti.
He blamed poor farming methods for the erosion.
“People here do not care about the good methods of farming and this results
in severe erosion in the event of heavy rains like this,” he said.
Last week, Agricultural Extension Services [Arex] officials were teaching
some villagers in the district good farming methods to curtail massive
erosion.
District administrator, Rolland Madondo said he was aware of the disaster
that had rocked most parts of Buhera, adding that his office was in the
process of finding ways to assist those affected.
“We have been informed about the disaster that happened in the district and
as I speak, we have since sent officials to assess the extent of the
damage,” he said.
He added that it might be another difficult year for the district as they
were likely to have food shortages.