The Sunday News
Nkosilathi Sibanda, Features Reporter
DEEP in Lupane’s communal lands, there are farmers who have stopped cultivating as the searing heat that characterised the month of January left them no hope of salvaging something from their one time promising crops.
Most farmers last stepped on their small land holdings in December when there was a flourishing green in the fields but by the end of January everything had turned brown.
Only last week when the heavens opened up did the farmers track back to the fields. After close to a month of dry spell, the earth was soaked with rain again much to the smiles of joy from the communities faced with a grim drought that was threatening to decimate their livestock.
Although early planted crops cannot be salvaged, there are farmers who remain optimistic their late crop would survive to give them a yield to push them into the year before they start buying grain.
It is evident that this year not much is to be harvested from rain water fed crop agriculture in most parts of the country as the dry spell had already taken its toll on crops.
Except for a few pockets, most of the country’s cultivated farmlands are a sorry sight as crops have succumbed to moisture stress amid the dry spell that hit the country since the start of the year. One farmer in Lupaka village in Lupane, Mr Edmore Gumede expressed despair at the loss.
Other small holder farmers in the area have also started worrying about a future whose household food security is quite uncertain.
Lupane is in Matabeleland North which falls under agricultural region 4 and 5. On average and in a good rain season, Lupane receives a normal rainfall of between 450-600mm. If drought has hit, the patchy rain give the soils less or even none in other areas.
Mr Gumede and his neighbours rely on rain fed agriculture only. But as rains pounded and moistened the sun baked earth over the last days, families in Lupaka village went on to plough again, reigniting the long lost hope.
If the rains persist, there will be a silver lining – some hope that communal farmers that are heavily reliant on rain water can at least get something.
Communal farmers can, however, maximize their yields through such initiatives as rainwater harvesting where they collect as much rain as possible and use it on their small plots to supplement natural rain when their crops suffer moisture stress.
Farmers have a massive potential for water harvesting, thereby offer a counter measure to water shortages that are a result of climate change.
While it is still in its infancy in Zimbabwe’s farmlands, collecting and storing rainwater is the only way that farmers can augment natural rain for their gardens and livestock and ensure household food security.
Of course, dams and other water storage infrastructure is there in the countryside but there are arguments that small-scale rainwater harvesting initiatives are more suitable as less water is lost to evaporation and seepage and there is minimum or no run-off at all as water is collected locally and can be stored in a variety of ways.
Agricultural experts in Mat North explain that given the expanse of land in most homesteads, communal farmers can simply harvest water by directing rainwater to a storage facility.
In some cases, it is suggested that farmers can even collect rainwater by placing large containers in the open.
Farming experts say the trick is for farmers to devise new ways of farming to avert drought especially that there is climate change that is seriously threatening rain fed agriculture.
“Rain water harvesting is preferred if ever there is a poor rainfall season. Even if we have a lot of rain, it is wise to capture water for future use. Farmers are heavily encouraged to practice water harvesting. Simply, a farmer has to direct rain water to a storage facility. It works for household use, livestock and the garden.
“In communal areas there is a lot of run-off water that can be redirected to farmlands or let alone stored for use to water fodder during the dry season. I would anytime recommend farmers to do that with the little rains we are receiving,” said Mr Agrippa Ngwenya an agricultural extension officer with a non-governmental organisation, who has worked with farmers in Lupane.
Matabeleland North Department of Agricultural Technical and Extension Services (Agritex) provincial officer Mr Dumisani Nyoni is on record saying the only way farmers can pull through a drought season is to plan.
Water harvesting is an integral plan. In a show of acknowledging the importance of rainwater harvesting, the Government has led the way by encouraging farmers to step up to the technique.
Minister of Environment, Water and Climate Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said 60 tonnes of cement have been availed in each province to build and rehabilitate water conservation infrastructure as part of efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change.
This exercise which is known as the Command Water Harvesting programme was announced early January noting that large quantities of water are lost due to run-off across the country.
Farmers like Mr Gumede in low rainfall areas can be able to work with Government for advice on how best to maximise on rainwater harvesting. Asked about water harvesting, farmers in Lupane professed to know a bit about it courtesy of NGOs working in their communities as well as Agritex officers.
“What I only know is collecting rainwater is by placing buckets and dishes outside or even below our asbestos or corrugated roofed houses. Had we harvested and kept rainwater that fell in early December, we would be talking a different story,” said Mr Kenaan Ncube another villager in Lupane.
A ray of hope lies ahead for the farmers as a number of programmes have been initiated in Matabeleland North by Agritex and other Non-
Governmental Organisations where farmers are challenged to take part in water harvesting to be able to offset the effects of climate change.
The United Nations’ Environment Programme (UNEP) opines that rainwater harvesting has helped nations like Ethiopia and Kenya to meet the needs of their current populations. The UN says Africa is not water scarce.
“The rainfall contribution is more than adequate to meet the needs of the current population several times over. Most countries would not be categorised as ‘water stressed’ if rainwater harvesting is considered. The water crisis in Africa is more of an economic problem from lack of investment, and not a matter of physical scarcity,” says a 2017 report by UNEP.
For Mr Gumede and other farmers in low rainfall areas, harvesting of the little rains that fall is the panacea to hunger fears as household food security threats could be a thing of the past if they are to adopt the initiative on a more serious basis.
