Zimbabwe is pulling out all the stops to court smallholders as cropping season begins amid muted activity from smallholder farmers. There are concerns that this planting season will be met with the same apathy seen in the last few years where poor rainfall forecasts and unusually long dry seasons kept many farmers away from their fields.
The agriculture ministry and agencies working with smallholder farmers are making interventions to encourage farmers to take to the field, and this has included providing free maize seed. However, large swaths of land in the country’s south-west remain fallow, when traditionally the month of November sees hordes of smallholders engaged in land preparation.
In the country’s second city where urban farming was a normal activity with families trekking to the fields in November to prepare their land, such sights have disappeared in recent years.
Blame it on the rain, they say. Despite the free maize seed being doled out in cities such as Bulawayo, Cynthia Mpofu, a fifty-something year old resident says she is taking a rest this year.
“There are people who have been calling meetings where residents are being given maize seed but I have stayed away. I do not trust that there will be any rains again this year,” Cynthia said.
Like many parts of the world, Zimbabwe has registered record high temperatures, and for smallholder who relies on traditional knowledge to inform his agriculture activity, the extreme heat is a sign of worse things to come.
“It means we cannot expect any meaningful rains again this year,” Cynthia said referring to the extreme heat. It has become an annual ritual during planting season that the ruling party distributes maize seed to residents to encourage them to grow their own food, but in recent years with cyclical droughts, many like Cynthia have lost interest.
There were reports last year that some recipients of the free maize were grinding it instead and preparing porridge because of the hunger situation. This year some like Cynthia have simply stayed away from their fields. The result can be seen in parts of Bulawayo historically known for vibrant maize fields which however are now marked by overgrown thorn shrubs. “I have been getting nothing from the hard work I put in for I do not know how many seasons. The lack of rain is frustrating and I am not the only one who has abandoned land preparation,” Cynthia said.
Cynthia and other subsistence farmers rely on rain for their crops and this has meant interruptions in the rainfall cycle is a guarantee of crop failure. For James Fuzwayo, however, who owns a small plot on the periphery of the city and has a borehole, land preparation is already in full swing. He has hired a tractor to upturn the soil and says he has already received his share of maize seed from the ruling party.
“I started preparing the land in late October. Even if the rains are delayed or do not come at all I have the borehole to fall back on,” James said.
“It is certainly a gamble but you never know with the weather conditions. It is always better to be prepared and get the land ready in time,” he said. The mixed fortunes of smallholders as cropping season and land preparation begins highlight the challenges faced by Zimbabwe agriculture at a time of increasing climate uncertainty. The agriculture ministry is loaning tractors to farmers across the country for land preparation, but this has not boosted enthusiasm among some smallholders.
“I am aware that tractors are being offered for land preparation, but this comes with conditions. They are not free and it is a gamble that I cannot afford with no sign that this will be a better year for rainfall,” said Bertha Chuma, another smallholder on the outskirts of Bulawayo.
“It is better for those with boreholes otherwise relying on rain has only led to burnt crops,” she said, expressing common frustration among smallholders in many parts of the country’s arid southwest.
Last year, amid rainfall concerns, the ministry of agriculture issued an ultimatum to smallholders regarding land preparation and planting, giving farmers a cutoff date to cease both land preparation and planting as part of efforts to protect farmers from crop loss.
“This season has been late. Rains started in December but rains are upon us. We have said farmers should accelerate and complete planting by January 10 throughout the country,” said Anxious Masuka in January this year.
This was because many farmers were delaying heading to their fields, uncertain about the coming of the rains, and this year does not look any different.
