We’ll delink agric production from weather

Professor Obert Jiri

THE past year has been one of the most challenging in Zimbabwe’s agricultural history, defined by an El Niño-induced drought that left an indelible mark on the nation. 

Experts described the drought as the worst in 43 years, with some even suggesting it could be the most severe in over a century.

Reduced rainfall and extreme temperatures wreaked havoc on the country’s agricultural output, leaving Zimbabwe and other parts of Southern Africa with grain shortages. This is a stark reminder of the urgent need for resilience in food production.

Despite these unprecedented challenges, Zimbabwe demonstrated remarkable resilience through a combination of proactive planning, Government interventions and community efforts. 

From smallholder farmers to large-scale commercial producers, stakeholders across the agricultural spectrum rallied to mitigate the devastating effects of the drought.

Rainfall was alarmingly scarce, effectively beginning on December 23, 2023 and ending by January 14, 2024. 

This brief rainy season was insufficient for most crops, resulting in a massive reduction in yields. 

From maize production projections of two million tonnes, we only managed under 600 000 tonnes, with the combined output of all grains barely exceeding 795 000 tonnes. 

This fell significantly short of the nation’s annual requirement of 2,2 million tonnes.

Even the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority’s ambitious plan to cultivate 100 000 hectares (ha) was severely impacted. 

So, the season was very bad.

The drought forced the Government and farmers to rethink strategies. 

The Government remained resolute, emphasising adaptation and innovation to ensure food security.

Recognising the urgency of the situation, the President directed us to shift towards winter crop production. 

About 15 percent of our population no longer prefer maize as the staple anymore.

They prefer other sources of starch such as rice and potatoes.

So, we had a strategic pivot where we leveraged Zimbabwe’s capacity to grow crops like rice and potatoes during the cooler months. 

The initiative proved to be a success, introducing alternative sources of starch to supplement maize, which is traditionally the nation’s staple.

Further, the President directed that we roll out a wheat-based food security strategy, meaning we would pivot production of winter wheat to supplement our shortfalls.

The country sought to put 120 000ha under wheat in order to produce 600 000 tonnes of the crop.

While the final tally reached 563 000 tonnes, this was still a historic high for Zimbabwe. 

It marked the first time the nation produced wheat in volumes, nearly twice its annual requirement, underscoring the potential of well-executed agricultural strategies.

So, that delivered grain to the country. All that grain helps in alleviating the food insecurity.

We have managed, in the face of this drought, to ensure that no one dies of hunger.

Despite the drought’s severity, the Government’s decisive actions ensured that Zimbabwe avoided widespread hunger. 

Despite the huge drought, mealie meal prices did not go up and meat prices did not rise.

So, the President’s vision really worked.

Turning point

What this drought really taught us is that we must delink production from the weather. It was realised that we cannot continue on a path where we rely on rain-fed production.

We must be able to control our production. This means producing whether there is a drought or not.

To that end, President Mnangagwa convened the Irrigation Investment Conference on July 5, 2024. 

This pivotal event brought together investors, policymakers, farmers and private sector players to chart a new path for Zimbabwe’s agriculture — one that prioritises irrigation as a cornerstone of resilience.

The indaba generated significant momentum, with two investors signing memoranda of understanding with the President, pledging substantial resources for irrigation development. 

One company increased its commitment from €51 million to €70 million, signalling strong confidence in Zimbabwe’s irrigation development plans. 

The biggest lesson from the conference was that there is an appetite for investment in irrigation. 

We also had many others pledging to open up over 100 000ha to irrigation, and those plans are already in the pipeline.

A few weeks ago, we had those players coming in to announce that they had started work and moving their equipment into the country. 

Already, they have started identifying farmers who are interested in irrigation.

With regard to the irrigation development programme, we have also received many enquiries from farmers about how they can get on board.

Expanding irrigable land

We have also taken a deliberate approach to ensure that all our water bodies are surrounded by irrigation schemes.

These include Ruti Dam, Muchekeranwa Dam and Tugwi Mukosi Dam.

There is a deliberate thrust to ensure there is investment in irrigation around these dams. 

While the programme remains work in progress, we are seeing huge interest from investors and also a large number of inquiries.

Most of these projects have now been formalised for implementation.

So, we expect that there will be a huge opening up of land for irrigation in 2025.

The essence is really to open up 350 000ha of irrigable land dedicated to cereal production. 

Achieving this target would yield approximately 1,8 million tonnes of grain annually — enough to meet the country’s food security needs. 

Judging from our winter wheat production, there are at least 140 000ha that can be dedicated to cereal production every summer.

So, the aim is to ensure that, at the barest minimum, we open up a total of 350 000ha for cereals production. 

Further, efforts to expand irrigable land encompass various strategies.

For small-scale farmers, we have what we call village business units.

These are basically one-hectare plots under irrigation from a solar-powered borehole.

On completion of this project, we will have 35 000 village business units, which means 35 000ha will have been opened to irrigation countrywide.

We will also have 9 600 school business units, which means an additional 9 600ha will be under irrigation.

In addition, we plan to have 4 800 youth business units, which also means 4 800ha will be irrigable.

Then, we go to the irrigation schemes.

Across the country, we have 460 irrigation schemes, which cover a total of 26 000ha. 

We are planning to rehabilitate those that are dysfunctional. We have already worked on 331, which are already operational. 

If we rehabilitate the remainder, we should be able to open up 26 000ha.

We also have large dams where we will open irrigation schemes. These include Tugwi-Mukosi (40 000ha), Gwayi-Shangani (10 000ha) and Muchekeranwa (5 000ha). The dams are central to our irrigation expansion plan. If we open up irrigable land around these dams, we should be able to get substantial irrigation capacity.

We also have a lot of weirs across some rivers that ensure water just does not flow away.

If we put up weirs on these rivers, we should again be able to open up substantial irrigable land along these major rivers to create green belts. 

In conclusion, the strategy is really to ensure that we delink our production from the weather.

The emphasis on irrigation development is part of a broader vision to build a resilient and sustainable agriculture sector. 

By harnessing the potential of water bodies, rehabilitating existing irrigation schemes and promoting investments in modern farming technologies, Zimbabwe is laying the groundwork for long-term agricultural prosperity.

 Prof Obert Jiri is the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development. He was speaking to The Sunday Mail’s Theseus Shambare.