Small grains farmer Mrs Liana Ncube (right) inspects her crop in Umzingwane District while the Agritex officer for the area Mr Thobizitha Ngwenya looks on
Prosper Ndlovu
“IT is nearly six years now since we last had a good harvest here in Esikhoveni. The maize crop has not been doing well over the years due to recurring droughts.
“This season we have shifted to small grains and the harvest is promising to be good”.
Those are the words from Mrs Liana Ncube (74) from Ward 3 in Umzingwane District who is part of 1 500 households in the district that have embarked on a small grains growing initiative as part of measures to improve food security.
Small grains are recognised for their drought tolerance and yet their value is more commonly seen in their contribution to semi-subsistence food supplies than in the commercial market, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), a global agency focused on food security, says.
Like many districts in drought-prone Matabeleland South province and parts of Matabeleland North, Umzingwane is among the hardest hit zones that have endured food shortages in the past few years and had to rely on aid from the Government and development partners.
The bulk of the southern region has experienced a drastic decline in maize production since 2013 due to recurrent droughts, forcing many farmers to resort to growing small grains such as sorghum and millet, which are drought resistant, the ZIMVAC 2015 survey report show.
The Chronicle crew visited some of the farmers this week and was shown different fields where the sorghum crop was doing well and cowpeas harvesting had begun.
“As you can see my sorghum crop is doing well and we hope to get a good harvest this year. Last year we did not get anything from the maize. We have learnt that our area is not suitable for maize but needs drought resistant breeds,” said Mrs Ncube.
Mrs Molly Masuku, one of the pioneers of the sorghum growing project, said she was excited about the state of their crop and paid tribute to Caritas Zimbabwe, a Catholic local non-governmental organisation, which provided the community with seed and conducted training services in conjunction with the Agritex department.
“Things are looking good for us this year and certainly we will not starve. Our sorghum crop is doing well, far better than maize, which has failed us over the years due to drought. Caritas has assisted us with seed for sorghum, cowpeas (CBC2 variety) and lablab for stockfeed,” she said.
“The cow peas have already matured and we have started harvesting. We have been taught to do intercropping as this helps retain moisture and helps in nitrogen fixation.
“The lablab crop will be harvested for stockfeed purposes during dry periods.”
Another farmer Mrs Joyce Masuku from Vukuzenzele Ward also took the news crew on a tour of her field, which also has a good crop.
Local Agritex officer Mr Thobizitha Ngwenya said more households in Umzingwane have embraced small grains as a remedy to food insecurity after years of drought.
“Many people have adopted small grains and we hope more would join and increase production once they see the benefits of small grains. In my area (Wards 3,4,5 and 8) we have 386 households who received the macia sorghum seed variety, which is drought tolerant,” he said.
“This is an early maturing variety (three months). All I can say is that the crop in this area is doing well and we think going forward small grains is the answer to food security. The cowpeas crop is also doing well and this one is meant for nutritional balance in the family.”
Mr Ngwenya said growing small grains was the way to go for the drought prone area and indicated that should yields improve farmers stand a chance to tap commercial opportunities by supplying milling and brewery firms.
Caritas Zimbabwe development coordinator for the Archdiocese of Bulawayo, Mr Welcome Sibanda, said his organisation was committed to supporting farmers and Government to ensure food security in the country.
“The support is our response to long term food security to the vulnerable communities of Matabeleland who are affected by drought. You are aware of the El Nino effect, which induced drought in the last season. So, we responded positively by availing seed in the form of small grains, that is sorghum, and we have about 1 500 households who responded positively trough acquiring this input and they planted it on time,” said Mr Sibanda.
“We praise the Lord that rains came our way and people have started realising gains and some have started harvesting cowpeas. As Caritas we are working together in partnership with Catholic Relief Services as our strategic partners.
“What we are seeing in Umzingwane is a clear testimony that small grains are the answer to food security in dry regions. This proves that if people can really go for small grains, communities can overcome the effects of drought. In the long term we are saying people have a guarantee of food as far as growing of small grains are concerned.”
Although sorghum and millet are generally viewed as minor, traditional crops in Zimbabwe and Sadc food systems at large, FAO has stressed the need for countries to develop careful policies that promote small grain production and utilisation systems.
“The small grains are essential components of sustainable agricultural systems in the region’s extensive semi-arid areas. The development of these areas requires the development of the sorghum and millet economy,” it said.
Mr Sibanda paid tribute to the local leadership in Umzingwane for embracing the initiative and supporting its implementation. He also said Caritas was working with households in the district to promote small stock production for income generating purposes.
“We are also promoting sand abstraction irrigation projects so that people irrigate on a continuous basis, and this is how we are contributing to sustainable development. We are also responding to the Sustainable Development Goals such as ending hunger and promoting use of renewable energy.
“This is where we come in to ensure we promote sustainable development instead of handouts. We also work with schools to come up with projects that assist young children to engage in agriculture projects,” said Mr Sibanda.
“We are also encouraging formation of self help groups where people save money, what we call internal saving and lending schemes. To us we also think this is a contribution to the country’s Zim-Asset strategy where people realise the gains of their own work through food security.”