George Maponga Masvingo Bureau

Masvingo Development Trust (MDT) is negotiating with Lowveld sugar producers for additional land to expand the winter maize project hectarage to 5 000 hectares, as the initiative meant to eradicate hunger continues to gain momentum.

This comes as plans are also afoot to expand the crop variety under the project to include seed maize, wheat and sugar beans.

Masvingo is prone to droughts that have caused food shortages owing to perennial poor rains, but the province has fertile soils in the Lowveld coupled with abundant and under-utilised water bodies.

The winter maize project, a partnership between MDT, Government and Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe, is increasingly gaining currency within the province and beyond owing to its potential to ease perennial food shortages in Zimbabwe blamed on climate change.

In the just ended season, 1 186 tonnes of maize grain were harvested after 327ha were put under winter maize at Triangle Estates.

The harvest was recently handed over to Government by MDT and Tongaat.

The recently harvested crop was weighed down by challenges ranging from late planting to erratic power supplies that limited scope for irrigation using centre pivots.

Now there is a fresh push to expand the hectarage for the winter maize project ahead of planting for this year’s crop scheduled for next month.

MDT chair Mr Lovemore Matuke (pictured  above) said negotiations were ongoing with Tongaat for the firm to avail more land for the project.

“We are currently negotiating with Tongaat for more land for our winter maize project and we are looking at 5 000ha that will not only go under maize, but also other crops such as sugar beans and, most importantly, seed maize,” he said.

“Maize is ideal as it is within our goal of ensuring food security in Masvingo province and beyond. There are indications that Tongaat will give us the additional land we have requested for in areas around Mwenezana Sugar Estates in Mwenezi, though negotiations are ongoing.”

Mr Matuke said there was also need to review security around the project. This was after almost half of the just harvested winter maize crop was lost to thieves because of poor security.

Last year, the Trust realised over $600 000 from the sale of winter maize and intended to use the funds to procure borehole drilling rigs to help bring potable water to vulnerable communities around Masvingo.

This, however, suffered a stillbirth after the funds were eroded by inflation.