Sifelani Tsiko Agric, Environment & Innovations Editor

Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Deputy Minister Van­gelis Haritatos told participants at a resilience policy dialogue on accel­erating the commercialisation of tra­ditional grains, that the Government remained committed to strengthening the adaptive capacity and resilience of smallholder farmers to the negative impacts of climate change.

The dialogue is part of efforts to bring small grains, which up until the 1920s were the dominant commercial grain crop, back into the limelight as a commercial crop, rather than just something people grow for back-up subsistence.

To support the producion of tradi­tional grains, he said Government was promoting the substitution of maize and wheat with small grains as well as offering farmers uniform producer prices for maize, sorghum and millet deliveries despite lower production costs for the small grains.

The Zimbabwe Resilience Build­ing Fund (ZRBF) organised the policy dialogue to explore ways of acceler­ating the commercialisation of small grains.

It is funded by the European Union (EU), Swedish International Develop­ment Agency (SIDA), the Department for International Development (DFID) and UNDP.

UNDP Zimbabwe Resident Repre­sentative Mr Georges van Montfort said it was important for the country to diversify farming by moving away from the growing of maize given the impact of climate change, health issues and the economic benefits of tradi­tional grains.

“Small grains have been with us for a long time. We have lost the practices and we are now bearing the brunt of climate change,” he said.

“Cyclone Idai and the floods we have experienced this year all show that we need to build our resilience.”

He urged the Government, the pri­vate sector, smallholder farmers and development partners to come up with strategies to accelerate the commer­cialisation of small grains.

“Changing food eating habits is one of the most difficult things to do,” Mr van Montfort said.

“We need to look at ways to change food eating habits to boost the consumption of small grains. It is not about outlining challenges but proposing solutions to the chal- lenges.”

With the increasing frequency of droughts, long mid-season dry spells and unreliable rainfall patterns, small grains are now being seen as an impor­tant cereal to mitigate the impact of climate change, as well as increasing food and nutritional security.

Small grains are cereal crops such as pearl and finger millet, sorghum and rapoko. They are hardy plants which require relatively little water, making them more drought-resistant.

Zimbabwe’s staple crop, maize, is vulnerable to low rainfall and agri­culture experts and nutritionists alike are encouraging and training farm­ers to take up small grains farming as a solution to food insecurity in the country.

This year, more than an estimated seven million people are facing food insecurity in Zimbabwe, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).

Extreme drought that hit the entire region sharply reduced the 2018 har­vest, leading to increased food imports for Zimbabwe and most SADC coun­tries.

Poor rains in the first half of the 2019-2020 cropping season have also dimmed prospects of a good harvest, worsening the country’s food security position.

Experts say small grains are drought tolerant and have better nutritional value than maize, making them worth­while to promote.

However, the production of small grains over the years has faced several obstacles, including the limited access to seed, poor prices, low yields and the large flocks of voracious red-billed quelea birds.

Most farmers are more used to planting maize than small grains, but with climate change, the uptake of small grains is growing steadily.