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Midlands Bureau
THE Government is working on drought relief strategies in a bid to cope with the perennial dry spells that the country has experienced since the turn of the new millennium, Minister of Agriculture, Farm Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Dr Joseph Made has said.
In a speech read on his behalf by the ministry’s former Permanent Secretary, Dr Ngoni Masoka, at the just- ended Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union (ZFU) 73rd annual congress in Gweru, Dr Made said the Government was working on enhancing household food and nutrition security through drought mitigation strategies.

The two-day congress was held under the theme “Coping with Drought and Climate Change for Sustainable Agricultural Practices”.

“The ministry has set up a department that would conduct research on crops that are suitable for different regions and soils. There is also a need for farmers to invest in livestock rearing. Cattle can easily adapt to climate change. Livestock rearing has a potential of enhancing the people’s livelihoods,” he said.

Minister Made said there was also a need for farmers to employ sustainable agricultural practices. He said the Government was willing to avail information as well as educating farmers on issues to do with climate change and its dynamics.

Meanwhile, farmers have appealed to the Government and the private sector to avail more information on issues to do with climate change and its dynamics in a bid to reduce under-utilisation of land and curb recurrent droughts.

ZFU president Mr Silas Hungwe made these remarks while addressing the congress.

Mr Hungwe said Zimbabwe experienced perennial droughts and long dry spells since the turn of the millennium due to climate change.
He said farmers were affected by the grim situation as little information had been availed to smallholder farmers pertaining to climate change and its dynamics.

“It is now a common trend that the rainy seasons come late, rainfall is erratic, unevenly distributed and the seasons have become shorter.

Very little information has been given to smallholder farmers on these apparent changes in climate.

As such, farmers have been left to make do with the very little information they get from unreliable sources in order to make a living,” said Mr Hungwe.

He urged the Government and the private sector to engage the farming community in a bid to come up with corrective measures that could help restore production and productivity under the challenging climatic disorders.

Mr Hungwe also urged the Government to enforce laws that protect the environment, especially the wanton cutting of trees and burning of bushes.

“The last decade has seen unwarranted destruction of the environment and natural resources. Veld fires have reached phenomenal levels. Human lives have been lost and wildlife has not been spared,” he said.

Mr Hungwe urged traditional leaders to spearhead community programmes that sought to preserve and conserve the country’s natural resources.

He also urged the Government to open a financial window for smallholder farmers through banks and other relevant financial institutions.

Mr Hungwe appealed to the Government and the private sector to avail agricultural inputs on time ahead of the summer farming season.