Zimbabwe: Small grains, big gains
By Tatenda Macheka
In Zimbabwe, the impact of climatic shocks is affecting many people — especially women and girls. The World Food Programme (WFP) is trying to find better ways to help tackle these issues.
The small grains programme targets the most vulnerable of the population who are also supported by WFP lean-season resilience-building projects such as the Lean Season Assistance (LSA) and Food Assistance for Assets (FFA) programmes.
It is an integrated resilience-building activity aimed at improving livelihoods, food security and nutrition. These aim to support vulnerable communities from climatic shocks such as droughts by giving people additional skills to withstand these shocks through seed/fertiliser inputs and skills building.
Farmers are taught who to grow the small grains, ways of preserving moisture during dry spells such as mulching using grass, preferred methods of weeding, harvesting and storage. The idea is for them to get high-quality grain that can be competitive on the market.
Through this initiative, women are empowered to address the underlying drivers of food insecurity; women are trained to grow different crops that can withstand severe drought and help them through the poor harvests. Investments in drought-tolerant varieties help manage post-harvest losses.
Traditionally, women used to sow small grains scattering them all over the field. This attracted pests and the plant survival rate was very low. They were then taught to use ridge furrows. The proper seed variety that suits the geographic area was identified. These women were encouraged to use locally available organic manure from their composts. Farmers were supported with the rehabilitation and establishment of community warehouse infrastructures and post-harvest equipment to enable them to aggregate their commodities and attain the quality requirements.
Martha Saidi, 69, from Mudzi, one of the most food-insecure districts in northern Zimbabwe, is one of the 60,000 smallholder farmers supported by WFP, 70 per cent of whom are women.
“For years we have been growing maize but with no success, it would fail to mature as rains were inadequate. We were taught by WFP to grow drought-tolerant crops and it’s looking good so far.
“This year, I am likely to harvest more than 20 bags of sorghum- a type of cereal grain. Some of it we will eat and we’ll sell the rest to pay school fees and to buy other basics like cooking oil and salt,” says Martha. “We are coming from a bad year where COVID-19 and lockdown stopped us from travelling to look for employment opportunities. So, this support and expertise from WFP have come at the right time,” she added.
This initiative is done in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Agritex, (Zimbabwe’s agricultural extension service), which sits within the Ministry of Agriculture. Smallholder farmers were trained in conservation agriculture, to improve food security and nutrition through small grain production.
In Zimbabwe, the staple food is maize. Prior to the introduction of the crop, small grains like sorghum were widely grown and consumed throughout the region. Agroecologically, sorghum is a more productive crop in Zimbabwe’s semi-arid regions and, compared to maize, sorghum is a more drought-resistant crop. It’s also richer in protein, fat, calcium, and iron and considered very nutritious.
One of the trained farmers is Christine Mabika, 38, a mother of three. She said Covid-19 containment measures limited her access to the right equipment and services, causing more losses due to delayed harvesting, lack of harvesting, processing, and storage facilities and workers were not available.
COVID-19 has clearly affected farming and food production. Empowering women farmers with knowledge of small grains will certainly help families and communities make greater gains.
