LOW levels of agricultural production arising from low productivity have been the major problem facing Zimbabwean agriculture. This has devastating effects on rural livelihoods and the general well-being of the macro-economy.
To address this problem, the Second Republic took a deliberate decision to introduce the Pfumvudza farming concept in the country.
The primary objective of adopting the Pfumvudza concept was to achieve household food security and national food self-sufficiency.
Pfumvudza/Intwasa has transformed the lives of many farmers across the country.
As demonstrated in the case of a farmer from Chitsike Village in Chendambuya district of Manicaland, Mr Nicholas Chitsike has immensely benefited from the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme.
Before adopting the programme, he was farming on 1,5ha of land and getting yields of between seven and eight tonnes.
“This changed after I embraced Pfumvudza and these past two seasons my yields jumped to 11 tonnes in the first year then 14 tonnes last season from the same 1,5ha of land.
“I managed to drill a borehole this year from the proceeds I realised from maize produced under the Pfumvudza,” he said.
Another farmer writing a fairy tale of success after joining the programme is national winner Mrs Shuwiso Vangisayi of Muchinyika Village, also in Chiendambuya district.
“I have 0,8ha from which I used to harvest three buckets or less of grain but now I get between six and seven tonnes from that same piece of land. I used to survive on doing menial work for other farmers in exchange for clothes and food. In good seasons I would get at least five bags of maize but this all changed in 2019 when I adopted Pfumvudza,” she told The Herald this week.
The provincial launch of the 2020/21 season was held at her homestead. Her biggest achievement was to come in the 2021/22 season when she was crowned the national winner of the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme walking away with a borehole from the President.
“From then, my home is always flooded with international visitors who come to learn how conservation agriculture works and I gladly teach them,” she said.
Mrs Vangisayi has since joined the club of farmers who sell their maize to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB).
Pfumvudza/Intwasa practice enhances maize productivity: The Pfumvudza/Intwasa concept raises maize on designated plot sizes. Therefore, farmers should be advised to keep the plots to recommended sizes to maximise the yield benefits of the farming practice to reduce labour requirements and increase optimal use of inputs resulting in higher yields.
Adherence to recommended agronomic Pfumvudza practices results in higher maize yields than those who partially adopted.
This reinforces the urgent need to focus extension messages on the importance of adopting the complete Pfumvudza package with recommended full range of agronomic practices.
Reduction of Government expenditure on input subsidies and food assistance: Pfumvudza input pack per household is small and hence cheaper compared to the traditional Presidential Input Pack in place before second republic. If sustained, the Government support of Pfumvudza will save Treasury resources on the input side, and food assistance level as most households who practice Pfumvudza will be food secure.
Development of labour-saving technologies: Pfumvudza farming should be complemented by technological developments, especially in labour-saving technologies, to reduce the burden on activities such as potholing and mulching. Furthermore, Government should consider a subsidy programme for those involved in the manufacture of appropriate technology (tools and machinery) which support the Pfumvudza farming concept.
Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development permanent secretary Dr John Basera revealed that for the 2020/21 agriculture season, Pfumvudza/Intwasa smallholder farmers achieved an average yield of 5, 28 tonnes per hectare against the average national small-scale farmer yield of 1, 16 tonnes per hectare.
The same difference was also noted for 2021/22 season where farmers under Pfumvudza/Intwasa averaged 1,39 tonnes per hectare against a national average of 0, 82 tonnes per hectare,” said Dr Basera.
However, the impact of climate change is taking a toll of agriculture production, with farmers especially those that rely on rain-fed system on the receiving end. If farmers are to serious take farming as a business, they are required to take insurance, land and own labour as an input into the production process.
De-risking of agriculture production will allow farmers to receive some form of payment in the event of crop and livestock failure due to natural phenomenon such as drought, floods, hailstorm and many others.
“Though the dividends for Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme are so glaring, climate change reduced the yield levels by about 74 percent from 5, 28 to 1, 39 tonnes per hectare for the 2021/22 as compared to the 2020/21 season.
“This alone calls for concerted effort to de-risk agriculture at any cost to ensure food and nutrition security for the country,” continued Dr Basera.
Dr Basera went on to disclose that the idea of the pilot was to allow for informed evaluation of the impact, relevance and the value of the insurance product to the farming communities and to the nation at large.
“Now that the pilot was successfully implemented with the Government noting its importance in the communal farming communities agro food systems subspace, the Ministry is keen to see the speed implementation of the Area Yield Index Insurance to all Pfumvudza farmers in Zimbabwe,” said Dr Basera. – The Herald
