Zimbabwe to have lean season
Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Prisca Mupfumira
By Nyasha Chingono
ZIMBABWE faces one of the leanest seasons in decades and urgent humanitarian aid is required for most parts of the country, the Financial Gazette’s Agricultural News can report.
Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) has warned that below average rainfall will be characteristic of the 2016/17 farming season and most households would face acute food shortages.
A lean season is when people turn to food aid for survival and the season covers December to March.
“Zimbabwe faces one of the most severe lean seasons in the last few decades due to the impact of last season’s El Nino induced drought — a second consecutive drought year for the country. This shock has been compounded by increasing macroeconomic challenges that the country is facing this year,” said the latest FEWSNET report.
As reported by the Financial Gazette’s Agricultural News last week, US$352 million is required to cater for four million Zimbabweans in urgent need of food aid, with FEWSNET and Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZIMVAC) reports raising a red flag over the dire food situation facing the nation.
According to FEWSNET, 342 415 metric tonnes of maize was imported, with slightly more than half of the maize sourced from international partners between April and August 2016.
But government says 200 000 metric tonnes of maize delivered to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) could be enough to fight hunger for the next six months.
Although 200 000 metric tonnes is a far cry from the required 1,6 million metric tonnes of maize to save four million Zimbabweans who are likely to be food insecure by March 2017, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Prisca Mupfumira, said the situation was under control.
Mupfumira said government was no longer focusing on importing maize, although international humanitarian organisations had predicted that most families in the country would face hunger before the next harvest season.
“We are prepared and have adequate food stocks, therefore we hope by March 2017, we would have come out of the lean season,” said Mupfumira.
Zimbabwe requires 1,6 million metric tonnes this year and has been relying on the importation of grain from Mexico and Zambia.
Local millers’ supplies are reportedly stuck at several ports due to depleting foreign currency stocks, leading to failure to pay for the maize. This has also compounded the food insecurity situation in the country, as the private millers have become a critical component in the importation of grain.
Mupfumira said Zimbabwe is already self-sufficient.
“We have collected 200 000 metric tonnes from local farmers and we believe the grain will last for the next six months until the next harvest. We hope that by that time the number of people requiring food aid would have declined,” Mupfumira said.
A June 2016 ZIMVAC report said 35 percent of the rural population would be food insecure during the lean season.
Government however says that deliveries to GMB that were spurred by prompt payments would be sufficient to cushion the nation from impending hunger.
“One of the reasons why we got the grain is the fact that government deliberately paid the farmers on time. We are not focusing on imports at the moment because we have received enough from our local farmers,” said Mupfumira.
Private buyers are offering between US$300 and US$350 per metric tonne.
According to the national seasonal rainfall forecast, normal to above normal rainfall is expected between October 2016 and March 2017, therefore average production is expected for most crops.
But as the month hurtles towards mid November, insignificant rainfall has been recorded with sporadic showers, characterised by heavy winds, raising fears of yet another drought.
Mupfumira allayed fears of an impending drought, saying forecasts had predicted a normal rainfall season.
“Rainfall during the coming season will be normal to above normal due to La Nina. Certain areas are likely to have floods, but in the event that we have drought, we will be prepared to deal with the situation,” said Mupfumira.
World Food Programme representative and country director, Eddie Rowe, said his organisation was aware of the imminent lean season and had designed mechanisms to assist affected communities.
“Through our lean season assistance, WFP deliver targeted unconditional food assistance, nutritional support to address immediate food energy and nutrient needs of households,” Rowe said.
He noted that there was need for timely disbursement of agricultural inputs ahead of the season.
“The metrological department and the Southern Africa Regional Climatic Outlook forum are not yet forecasting a drought, although rains have not started as early as anticipated in view of a high likelihood of La Nina,” Rowe told the Financial Gazette’sAgricultural News.
To avert food shortages, WFP among other humanitarian organisations have been engaging in food for work programmes for food-insecure households.
“WFP provides in-kind transfers to food-insecure households with the aim of filling an immediate food gap in exchange for labour on activities that create productive assets, such as small- scale irrigation schemes, community gardens and cattle dip tanks to generate income and reduce reliance on food assistance,” said Rowe.
Following successive droughts, the water situation has been compounded, with the Zimbabwe National Water Authority reporting that national dams were sitting at 41,9 percent of capacity, a sharp drop from 56,2 percent at the same time last year.
The depleted water stocks have had adverse effects on irrigation schemes.
Although Zimbabwe’s hunger situation was declared a national emergency in February, government and humanitarian bodies have been grappling to save the situation as the number of food insecure families grows daily.