By Shiela Chikulo and Kudzanai Chimhanda
More than 1,300 smallholder farmers, across the Mwenezi and Masvingo districts of Zimbabwe, braved the hot morning sun to attend the fourth edition of the seed and mechanization fair organized by CIMMYT and partners in early October 2023. The event, themed “Harnessing improved seed and mechanization for climate resilience,” saw these farmers from all walks of life—first timers to past attendees—eager to participate, learn and explore the innovations on display.
Evolving over time, the seed and mechanization fair has continued to serve as a strategic platform to connect local farmers with private sector companies while enhancing the uptake of drought-tolerant maize varieties and scale-appropriate machinery. “Since 2020, CIMMYT-driven seed fairs have encouraged smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas, to grow the right seed at the right time to avoid any shortcomings due to unpredictable of weather patterns,” said Christian Thierfelder, principal cropping systems agronomist at CIMMYT.
Fast approaching farming season
El Niño continues to pose a threat to farmers especially in semi-arid areas such as in Mwenezi district situated in southern Zimbabwe and Masvingo district in south-eastern Zimbabwe which are drought prone areas characterized by high temperatures, rainfall deficit, among other challenges. Through the seed fairs, CIMMYT, a consortium member of the World Food Program projects, R4 Rural Resilience and the Zambuko Livelihoods Initiatives supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and USAID, has been at the forefront, advocating for and inspiring local farmers to buy and use seed varieties suitable for their environment, while encouraging farming as a business. In addition, the regional project Ukama/Ustawi Diversification in East and Southern Africa joined efforts to support farmers in income diversification from pure cereal-based systems to more diversified cereal-legume and mechanized farming systems.
“I believe this is the right function at the right time as we prepare for the next farming season. From this event, we anticipate that farmers will say, ‘Yes we have received new technology, yes we have knowledge on new varieties, yes we have information about the weather forecast’. We now have confidence that farmers are well-equipped and ready for the season to achieve the Zimbabwe Vision 2030,” said Isaac Mutambara, district development coordinator from Mwenezi.
Building resilience with drought-tolerant varieties
Amid climate change, equipping farmers with climate-smart knowledge and the right seed varieties has been central to the seed fairs. Working hand in hand with the government, CIMMYT has been breeding drought tolerant, orange maize with high nutritional value. “We encourage the growing and consumption of crops with nutritional value for household food security. Furthermore, we have different varieties of orange maize which are drought-tolerant,” said Thokozile Ndhlela, maize line development breeder. In addition, CIMMYT as part of HarvestPlus, has been encouraging the growing and consumption of nutritious NUA45 beans which are high in iron and zinc.
Mechanizing agriculture
The joint participation of the USAID funded ‘Feed the Future Zimbabwe Mechanization and Extension activity’, helped to emphasize the importance of transforming smallholder agriculture through scale-appropriate equipment. At the event, machinery manufacturers such as Prochoice, Kurima and Mahindra showcased cutting-edge machinery, designed to ease farming operations. These companies showed live demonstrations of two-wheel tractors, basin diggers, multiple crop threshers amongst others, effectively emphasizing the benefits of scale-appropriate mechanization. The innovations on display demonstrated the unwavering dedication of the private sector towards supporting farmers and driving agricultural innovation. “It has been a truly exciting opportunity operating the peanut sheller, while appreciating the different machinery in live action. I will consider buying this machine as it reduces the added burden of shelling and processing,” said Lungiwe Nyathi, a local farmer from Mwenezi.
Click here to see more...