Farmers embrace Pfumvudza

WOMEN in Manicaland have embraced the Pfumvudza farming programme which is likely to improve the food security situation in many dry areas that have been ravished by drought in the last three seasons.

The Pfumvudza concept is being promoted by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement to improve household and national food self-sufficiency.

Farmers who have prepared their land using the technique for the 2020-21 summer cropping season will get priority in the Presidential Inputs Scheme which is targeting over 1,8 million households to produce 1,8 million tonnes of cereals and over 360 000 tonnes oil seeds.

Mutare-Chimanimani Senator and Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa last week commended the uptake of the programme in Mutare South, which is one of the most affected areas by drought.

Minister Mutsvangwa said the impact of climate change will be felt for many years to come, adding that there is need for women to take up farming techniques that will ensure less people are affected by hunger in the province.

“We are aware that given the impact of climate change, we have had drought for many years and the agricultural sector is facing challenges in producing enough food for the people. I am happy to see that women are opening up to the new concept and have made the necessary preparations.

“Once they have inputs and the rains come, we will definitely increase productivity and be able to feed our families from very small pieces of land.

“The programme is very exciting and we are happy that our people have embraced this new approach,” she said.

Minister Mutsvangwa said there are many more projects that could drive agriculture in Manicaland, especially in areas close to water sources such as Mpudzi Dam.

She, however, expressed concern over inadequate use of water from Mpudzi Dam to improve food production.

She said she would engage the Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Minister, Perrence Shiri to ensure that villages in the vicinity of the dam benefit.

“It is worrying that we have Mpudzi Dam nearby, but we are failing to utilise water from there for our farming activities. I will engage the minister and push for Mpudzi Dam water to benefit the community. We need to produce our own food, so we should be doing so much more since we have the water here,” she said.

ZANU PF Women’s League Manicaland provincial chairperson, Cde Happiness Nyakuedzwa said women can drive production if they are given the necessary support. She commended the women from Mutare South for embracing the Pfumvudza concept. “Women have a big role to play in promoting food self-sufficiency. We are encouraging everyone to take part in the Pfumvudza programme and we have moved around assessing progress made and we are happy with what we saw. Almost everyone who has registered is done with land preparation and is now waiting for inputs. Once the rains come, we are sure we will get the biggest yields we have ever recorded in this constituency, which is prone to droughts,” she said.

Under the programme, each household will be supported with a standard input package of 5kg seed maize, 50kg basal dressing, 50kg top dressing, fall armyworm pesticide, as well as traditional grain seeds for both oil seeds and cereals.

Farmers in the drier parts of the country will be supported with other climate smart crops such as cow peas, groundnuts and roundnuts.