By Conrad Mwanawashe
FAO in Zimbabwe, under the Zimbabwe Idai Recovery Programme (ZIRP) funded by the World Bank and implemented under UNOPS directly reached 109 898 smallholder farming households benefiting 549 410 people in Manicaland as it supported affected households to not only recover and rebuild, but seamlessly transition from humanitarian to development.
ZIRP assisted communities in Chimanimani, Chipinge, Buhera, Masvingo and Mutare Districts where agricultural inputs to restore lost crop production using drought tolerant seeds for maize, cowpea, sorghum, basal fertilizer and top-dressing fertilizer were distributed.
Furthermore, 10,000 dryland cropping farmers were supported with inputs support and extension training on conservation agriculture, safe harvesting, processing and storage using hermetic bags.
“The rational of FAO interventions were to support affected households to recover and rebuild as they transitioned from humanitarian to development,” said Dr Patrice Talla, FAO Sub Regional Coordinator and Country Representative for Zimbabwe.
“As was witnessed during Cyclone Idai, when natural calamities break out, communities are affected, disrupting their day-to-day lives and long-term development prospects.
“Thus, while humanitarian aid comes in to save lives and alleviate suffering during and in the immediate aftermath of emergencies, this aid is short lived.
“The intention of FAO’s interventions was therefore to support affected households to not only recover and rebuild, but seamlessly transition from humanitarian to development,” sadi Dr Talla.
Dr Talla was making remarks at the learning event meant to share lessons learnt, deduce implications for policy and future programming from the various project components that we implemented, with the goal of building resilience amongst the affected communities, so that they are better prepared for future shocks.
The learning event ran under the theme ‘Building Resilience and Transforming Agrifood Systems in the face of Climate Change’ which theme Dr Talla said does not only speak to FAO’s 4 Betters but also speaks to the government’s thrust and investment into sustainable agriculture as articulated in the Agriculture Transformation Strategy document.
In line with government’s Horticulture Strategy, 64 community gardens were established and supported with diversified vegetable seed packs to ensure household food diversity, food and nutrition security.
“Four of the gardens have been installed with environmentally friendly solar powered systemS to reduce the drudgery of manual watering. Ideally, we should have solarized all the gardens, but the model is there for the government to scale up,” said Dr Talla.
ZIRP restored livestock production for the affected smallholder farmers by restocking small livestock (poultry and goats), provision of supplementary stock feed, fodder production, vaccinations, dipping and deworming.
Farmers received appropriate training on small livestock production, and good animal husbandry practices to ensure proper handling and management of the livestock.
Dr Talla added that in line with the government’s thrust to fight January Disease and other tick-borne diseases, 55 diptanks were rehabilitated.
Working with government’s Department of Veterinary Services, regular community dipping services were restored in Chimanimani, Mutasa, Buhera, Chikomba, Chipinge, Gutu, Bikita and Mutare Districts, through the provision of acaricide and using the 5-5-4 dipping frequency model.
This has resulted in a significant 90% reduction in animal deaths from ticks and other livestock diseases. There was also a deliberate shift towards improving animal health through low input sustainable agriculture practices.
FAO worked with Agritex Extension Officers to help farmers produce fodder and feed formulation to help farmers to cope with the challenges of limited pastures during the lean season.
Household fodder production, and feed formulation techniques are helping farmers to establish fodder banks and subsequently improve availability of nutritional feed as well as earning farmers an income from selling the feed locally.
“The project promoted a novel approach to stock feed production using the Black Soldier Fly (BSF), an alternative source of protein for poultry and a way to significantly lower the cost of protein in poultry production.
“In the pilot in Buhera District, FAO reached 563 lead black soldier farmers, 73% of them women. Farmer innovations through the use of rudimentary local materials significantly reduced the cost of establishing BSF production and exponentially increased adoption.
“Initially, farmers have been producing BSF protein for their own poultry production but there is potential in the future to aggregate and package for other markets,” he said.
FAO provided overall technical guidance and supported community-led activities facilitating the restoration of six irrigation schemes, in compliance with build back better, build-back-smarter standards.
The introduction of new crop varieties such as chilli pepper, garlic, butternut and water-melons brought with it new market actors under contract farming. Irrigation Marketing Committees and linkages with off-takers resulted in farmers diversifying crops in response to market demands.
