Tawanda Musarurwa
LOCAL farmers have long observed changes in weather patterns but struggled to pinpoint the cause.
“It has been a while since we noticed the changing weather patterns. I would say around 2017, that is when we started noticing that something was not right,” said Masvingo’s Takunda Farming Group chairperson Mr Jerifanosi Matingwinya.
“The rainfall was beginning to be erratic and yields were lower than usual. And the situation was also forcing us to supplement livestock feed from our maize crop.”
While climate change is usually attributed to such disruptions, the 2023/2024 agricultural season brought an extreme weather event: an El Niño-induced drought.
The Second Round of Crops, Livestock and Fisheries Assessment and the Rapid Village-Based Food Assessment conducted in April 2024 revealed that 7,7 million Zimbabweans — about 51 percent of the population — would require food assistance between May 2024 and March 2025 due to the drought.
The surveys indicated that six million people affected by the drought are based in rural areas and 1,7 million others in urban settings.
While rural communities are disproportionately affected, especially with regard to food security, the Government and its development partners have been implementing programmes to build climate resilience.
One such example is the 10-member Takunda Farming Group, which is part of the broader Mushandike Irrigation Scheme.
Commissioned in 1986, Mushandike is a sprawling area of irrigated farmland of nearly 1 000 hectares, fed by canals from the nearby Mushandike Dam.
The scheme’s operations are being managed by an irrigation management committee, which consists of sub-committees that address specific areas for each group, to ensure production is not compromised.
With financial support from the AFC Land and Development Bank, Takunda Farming Group is growing a variety of crops, such as maize, vegetables and beans, all year round.
The group is part of an initiative to revive the Mushandike Irrigation Scheme to its glory days. With funding from the African Development Bank, in partnership with the AFC Land and Development Bank and the Government, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations is implementing the Zimbabwe Emergency Food Production Project.
The Takunda Farming Group’s 10 members consist of eight men and two women.
Mr Matingwinya said the group’s members were benefitting from operating in a structured way.
“If we farm as individuals, we don’t get to operate in a structured way. Alone, one may struggle for inputs, and that is a step backwards,” he said.
“In some cases, some farmers may spend their monies recklessly and fail to plan for the new season, but as a group, we can avoid these pitfalls. We can plan in advance and engage our lenders on what hectarage we are targeting for any particular season.
“Farming as a group ensures that our yields are at the same high grade, because we would have planted the same seed variety. This ensures that we grow crops that are also export-grade.”
Through training provided by the Agricultural and Rural Development Advisory Services, the group has learned advanced techniques such as moisture retention strategies.
This knowledge contributed to their success during the 2024 winter wheat season, where they produced 12 tonnes of wheat.
AFC’s support to the Takunda Farming Group farmers is a microcosm of a countrywide initiative.
For instance, for the 2024 winter wheat production, 1 766 farmers across the country benefitted from the seed revolving fund, giving them access to certified seeds and fertilisers.
For decades, Zimbabwean farmers have relied on the rains to grow their crops.
With droughts becoming frequent, rain-fed agriculture is now unreliable.
The scheme is not just about beating drought situations such as the current one; it is a lifeline for food security.
With the climate in a state of flux, the country’s food security situation can become precarious.
The Mushandike Irrigation Scheme, though not perfect, gives farmers the tools they need to produce food steadily. But it is not just about food. The scheme is a poster child for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 (zero hunger) and SDG 13 (climate action).
According to the 2022-2026 Zimbabwe United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (ZUNSDCF), “Zimbabwe has prioritised SDGs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13 and 17 as the most critical, based on the country’s national development priorities within the context of available resources.”
By enabling farmers to keep producing, even when the heavens refuse to cooperate, it is addressing hunger while training resilience in a changing world. The programme also speaks to the “Planet” pillar of development, whose national development priorities include food and nutrition security, environmental protection, climate resilience and natural resource management.
The ZUNSDCF — which is anchored in the National Development Strategy 1 — discusses a lot about resilience and food security, and the Mushandike Irrigation Scheme delivers on both fronts. But all is not rosy.
The dam is silted up and some farmers complain about erratic water supply.
Takunda Farming Group secretary Mr Proud Mhosva said they sometimes face challenges when water levels are low in Mushandike Dam.
“When the Mushandike Dam is full, we can harness water from it for around three years. But sometimes, because the rains are erratic, the dam does not properly fill and we can use it for perhaps two years; sometimes even for just a year,” he said.
“There is Muzhwi Dam, which is about 30km away from here. If possible, we would appreciate it if the Government could help us access water from that dam. We could operate more efficiently when Mushandike Dam has low water levels.”
Despite its challenges, Mushandike is proof that, with some little innovation and community spirit, farmers can overcome changing climate conditions.
For now, the scheme’s farmers are showing what is possible when they blend hard work, ingenuity and just a little help from irrigation.
If Mushandike can weather the drought, it is possible that Zimbabwe can, too.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE SUNDAY MAIL – https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/mushandike-irrigation-scheme-cushions-farmers-against-climate-change/