12 hours ago
2
Migren Matanga, a smallholder farmer from Rushinga, holding one of her small grain crops. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe/IPSBULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, May 09 (IPS) - Migren Matanga grew up shying away from small and traditional grains in Rushinga, in northern Zimbabwe.
The 58-year-old mother of four from Toruzumba village relied on maize and cotton, one of the major cash crops in the area at the time.
It was not until the late 2010s that the smallholder farmer realised the need for climate-smart farming.
Prolonged droughts had devastated her maize crops, and cotton prices declined due to a combination of factors, including a collapsing textile industry and a volatile currency.
In 2020, Matanga joined farmers researching conservation agriculture under the R4 Rural Resilience Initiative, led by the World Food Programme in Rushinga, where semi-arid conditions threaten conventional agriculture.
“When growing up, I focused on maize and cotton cash crops. Rains were abundant,” she tells IPS, adding that following her nomination from other villagers, she joined the initiative to broaden her knowledge on conservation agriculture.
“But now we are experiencing less rainfall due to climate change. This forced farmers in this community to be innovative.”
These farmers are grouped into ten.
They grow different drought-tolerant varieties like sorghum, millet and cowpea using conservation agriculture practices on a 0.2-hectare piece of land and conventional agriculture on a different plot of the same size.
Farmers maintain minimum soil disturbance and diversify crops to improve soil health and water management to reduce environmental impact under conservation agriculture.
They will follow the traditional farming method of tilling the soil under conventional agriculture.
Each of these ten farmers has the same model in their fields, using the same technologies that are provided by agronomists.
Matanga’s efforts are already paying off, as in the 2023/2024 farming season, she had a good harvest despite a drought that took a toll on crops across the country.
The drought, caused by El Niño – a weather phenomenon that leads to droughts or floods, a situation worsened by climate change – left more than half of Zimbabwe’s population of 15.1 million facing hunger.
Zimbabwe declared a drought in April 2024 in a bid to mobilise resources from both the State and international humanitarian agencies and the private sector to support millions facing hunger.
“I looked down upon small grains. But I have since realised that they are drought resistant and mature early,” says Matanga, smiling, looking at her fields filled with green millet and sorghum.
“I harvested a little from my maize fields, which are not part of the initiative. But I am happy that I managed to get something from conservation agriculture.”
Small grains like millet and sorghum are not new in Zimbabwe.
Before British colonisation, some Zimbabwean communities used to grow these small grains for family consumption and trade.
But the colonists popularised maize and other crops; hence, the locals abandoned traditional grains.
Small grains, like millet and sorghum, are more tolerant of poor soils, droughts, and harsh growing conditions.
They can easily adapt to different environments without high levels of chemicals and pesticides.
Compared to other grains like maize, small grains do not need much water, which is ideal for semi-arid regions like Rushinga.
Experts say the deep roots of some varieties of these traditional grains keep the soil intact.
This helps mitigate desertification – degradation of land, making it less fertile, turning it into a desert-like environment.
Dr Christian Thierfelder, a principal cropping systems agronomist at CIMMYT, a non-profit agricultural international organisation, says that traditionally, research in Africa is done at the station and farmers were rarely involved.
He says the result of that research is often not applicable to their circumstances and contexts.
“So, we have noticed that and decided to do the research closer to the farmer in their fields,” he says.
Thierfelder says their interest is also to promote conservation agriculture, a cropping system based on minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention and crop rotation, which is labelled as a climate-smart technology.
He says this research and technology not only benefit farmers but researchers as well, who use these results through analyses over several years.
Thierfelder says these new, improved, climate-smart varieties farmers like Matanga are growing are suitable for their environment and provide good yields.
He says the farmers have appreciated that in the drier years, they get something from climate-smart technologies like conservation agriculture.
Dr Blessing Mhlanga, a cropping systems agronomist at CIMMYT, says data they have compiled from the research shows that conservation agriculture is ideal in this area.
“This has been proven by the data that we have as well—conservation agriculture has consistently outperformed conventional ploughing in the five years that we have been doing the trials in Rushinga,” he says.
“With the varieties we have as well, in some years we see some differences, but in some we do not—especially with the different crop species; they also perform quite differently in the years, which means their resilience and responses to different climatic conditions are also different,” he says.
“So, this gives us information on what species to grow and in which years, but we can be more confident after several years. So when we do our analysis, usually we separate these species.”
Progress White, another small-scale farmer from the semi-arid region of Rushinga, says during the El Niño drought, she harvested enough to feed not only her family but also to sell to other villagers.
“We coordinate as a team. Conservation agriculture is better. With conventional agriculture, I get less than I get from conservation agriculture,” the 29-year-old mother of three tells IPS.
Matanga and fellow farmers analyse the results after every season, making conclusions about which crops are performing better and which are not.
They share their observations with other farmers in their community.
Another 200 farmers in Rushinga with their small plots are implementing what Matanga and her peers are learning.
Thierfelder says they are currently targeting one ward in Rushinga district, usually 2,000 households.
“And the learning that we have from there can spread throughout the other wards in Rushinga and also in areas with similar characteristics,” he says.
Thierfelder says farmers learn and exchange knowledge through seeing fairs, exchange visits and field days.
“Exchange visits are another important aspect of sharing between farmers. We encourage peer-to-peer learning in each area. This year, we also want to do a cross-site visit between the Rushinga farmers and the Masvingo farmers,” he says.
In Zimbabwe, small grains like millet and sorghum are used to make flour, which is used to make porridge or Sadza, traditional alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
In urban areas, Sadza made from these small grains is becoming so popular in restaurants and is pricey.
Matanga says that though the rains came late in the current farming season, she is expecting a good harvest.
“I will keep some for family consumption and sell the excess to my neighbours.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
Follow IPS News UN Bureau on Instagram
© Inter Press Service (2025) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service
English (US) · 