The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development (MLAFWRD) have embarked on a process to review the Zimbabwe food security situation and outlook to respond to the El Nino induced drought.
The MLAFWRD and FAO held an urgent high-level meeting in Harare Co-chaired by the Permanent Secretary, Professor Obert Jiri and Dr. Patrice Talla, FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa and Representative to Zimbabwe.
The objective was to collaboratively assess the current drought situation while exploring how FAO programmes can build resilience for the country and plan for interventions in consultation and with support from the Agriculture Ministry.
Considering that 70 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture for food and income, urgent short and long-term interventions play a key role in averting severe food insecurity and damage to livelihoods. Said Prof Jiri:
These engagements are important to strengthen collaboration between FAO and the Government of Zimbabwe in responding to the effects of the El Nino induced drought. We agreed on key action plans to respond and address the short and long-term effects of the El Nino.
During the high-level meeting, both FAO and the MLAFWRD presented and reflected on the current status of the food security situation and outlook to identify synergies and areas of collaboration to assess and mitigate the risk of agricultural livelihood degradation due to El Nino.
Leveraging on FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022 – 2031 and its work in emergencies, the meeting came at an opportune time when FAO has already embarked on a regional assessment of the impacts of El Nino in Southern Africa and Zimbabwe’s assessment will be finalized in May 2024.
With the 2022 – 2026 Country Programming Framework (CPF) approaching its mid-term, FAO presented the current milestones in the implementation of the CPF while also highlighting the challenges encountered including the funding gaps and resource mobilization efforts.
During the meeting, FAO also presented its work on global corporate and flagship initiatives including the Hand in Hand Initiative (HiHi), the Digital Villages Initiative (DVI) and the One Country One Priority Product (OCOP).
HiHi is one of the initiatives which Zimbabwe can take advantage of in responding to El Nino. For the past two years, the HiHi in Zimbabwe has set precedence in terms of public, private and development financing for investment facilitation at national, regional and international fora.
The OCOP is a country-led and country-driven initiative that focuses on Special Agricultural Products (SAPs) with Zimbabwe already focusing on the traditional soya bean value chain. The DVI seeks to transform rural economies for the better through digitalization.
Dr Patrice Talla said that the consultative and multisectoral involvement of key stakeholders in this process is critical. Said Talla:
Today, we had the opportunity to elaborate more on FAO work to systematically plan and receive guidance from the Government of Zimbabwe through the Agriculture Ministry on how to harmonize and optimize delivery and impact in responding to the effects of El Nino.
The meeting agreed on intensifying the promotion of crop diversification with the Government emphasizing that it is now implementing policy decisions anchored on the use and adoption of traditional grains which are resistant to many crop diseases and pests and can survive adverse climatic conditions such as this El Nino.
FAO committed to supporting the Government in scaling up and linking irrigation and mechanization for small-scale farmers with a strategic thrust on private sector inclusion.
The MLAFWRD and FAO agreed on an action plan for short and long-term interventions to address the challenges being encountered in the agriculture sector including through open data, early warning and anticipatory actions as well as traditional response action. The action plan will be spearheaded by a team of technical experts from FAO and the MLAFWRD.
This comes as Southern Africa is already battling with the effects of the El Nino-induced drought phenomenon and Zimbabwe has declared the 2023-2024 summer cropping season a national disaster following the El Nino-induced drought.
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