SEKE - Communal farmer Andrew Mupindu from Seke communal lands looks up the skies with a sense of dread. They are brassy blue and prospects of rain are slim. His maize crop is wilting.
Many Zimbabweans like him are looking every day up the skies and hoping that it would rain as it did in January – a period of heavy rains that the Meterological Department said was the heaviest in 30 years. Predictions of a bumper harvest have already been made – with the Minister of Agriculture Joseph Made leading the pack – despite the gloom warnings from the US-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET) that about 1.7 million Zimbabweans will need food aid during the next two months.
Mupindu, who has in the past received aid from USAID, does not want to be given food aid this time around. He invested heavily in the soils and feels that that the rains are letting him down. I used over $500 in buying seeds and fertilise. But this may all come to nothing if it does not rain this week. I depend entirely on farming and no rains will simply mean that I will have to live on aid, said Mupindu.
Despite the gloom Mupindu like many other farmers is still hopeful that the skies will open up and nourish his crop which is presently drooping and wilting. I know that it will rain, the skies will open up and we will be able to salvage something, said another farmer Chipo Magwenzi.
Zimbabwe, like many developing countries, heavily relies on substantial agriculture. But only a few communal farmers have irrigation facilities, making the majority dependent entirely on the grace of God. Hope that was so redolent at the onset of the rain season has now been dashed by the recurring effects of the unpredictability of rainfall patterns which are being caused by climate changes. These are exacerbated by the snails pace adaption to modern farming techniques and a move to less moisture demanding crops such as millet and sorghum as the rainy seasons get shorter and drier.
Many communal farmers do not understand why rainfall patterns are now so unpredictable. Climate change has been branded the main culprit, of course, but other factors that affect crop production are land fragmentation due to increasing population. This has a ripple effect of reducing output and leads to overuse and ultimately impotence of the soil. I love my land but it is no longer good for agriculture. Apart from that, the rains are no longer falling as they used to do in the past, said Ambuya Chitsvatsva.
Masvingo has also been badly affected by the dry spell. Farmers were initially hopeful owing to the uncharacteristic heavy rains of December and January, and planted late crops, especially the staple maize, which are now suffering. Other affected areas include Slobela, Zhombe, and Gokwe in the Midlands.
An Agritex officer from Chegutu said that only those who planted with the early rains stand a chance, Only farmers who planted early crops are at an advantage, the dry spell is causing plants to wilt and dry. Made, who was angry at predictions by Fewsnet that people would need food aid, said the dry spell was a sign of God.
We are concerned by this development (dry spell) but there is not much we can do. As government we can only put stringent measures on the handling and marketing of the countrys staple crops like maize and tobacco, said Made.
Post published in: News