"If we get these new maize seed varieties, that will help us a lot," said Ceaser Chavizha, a small smallholder in Zaka, located in Masvingo province, south of the capital Harare.
Like many farmers in the region who rely on maize produce, Chavizha has been forced to survive on food handouts as his crops have been reduced to dried husks. "We cannot continue with handouts as we have fields that we can work on to produce food for our own, so we hope the new maize seeds will help us improve our yields," he told AFP.
The drought scourge is high on the agenda at UN COP22 climate talks in Morocco, where world leaders and experts are discussing how to implement the landmark Paris Agreement that was signed last year. The pact aims to cap global warming at below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees F), compared with pre-industrial levels.
Once referred to as the breadbasket of Africa, Zimbabwe used to be an exporter of maize, but now aid organisations say the country requires about two million metric tonnes a year to feed itself.
He said CIMMYT had received $500,000 funding from USAID to develop the new maize variety for drought-prone areas in East, Central and Southern Africa. Magorokosho stressed that more funds were needed to extend the project, and criticised the Zimbabwe government's delay in adopting new maize hybrids. "There is a layer of testing that is required by the authorities which is a little bit long... we would wish it is shortened so that the varieties can get quickly to the farmers," Magorokosho said.
CIMMYT, a non-profit research project headquartered in Mexico, is also working on a vitamin A-rich maize variety which is already in production in other parts of Africa and Latin America.
This year, Zimbabwe's cash-strapped government declared a "state of disaster" in most rural areas, with at least 2.4 million people in urgent need of food aid. Sekai Makonese, another small-scale farmer in Zaka, welcomed the potential impact of scientific intervention, saying she was counting on hybrids becoming widespread as soon as possible.
"Long ago, we used to farm maize with no problems but now we have a problem with climate change and now our crops fail before we harvest," she said.
The Zimbabwe government is yet to approve the mass distribution of the seeds, but the product is already available at some agricultural outlets.
Source: AFP
For more than two decades, I-Net Bridge has been one of South Africa’s preferred electronic providers of innovative solutions, data of the highest calibre, reliable platforms and excellent supporting systems. Our products include workstations, web applications and data feeds packaged with in-depth news and powerful analytical tools empowering clients to make meaningful decisions.
We pride ourselves on our wide variety of in-house skills, encompassing multiple platforms and applications. These skills enable us to not only function as a first class facility, but also design, implement and support all our client needs at a level that confirms I-Net Bridge a leader in its field.
