Zimbabwe is in the middle of implementing climate-proof agriculture to guard against negative effects of climate change at the household level and ensure food self-sufficiency.
This was said by Ambassador Tayerera Faranisi, Secretary for Environment, Climate, Tourism and the Hospitality Industry of Zimbabwe, during a side event organised by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) alongside the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt on 11th November 2022.
The side event was aimed at accelerating implementation of the Great Green Wall Initiative (GWWI) in the SADC Region. The objective of the event was also to strengthen networks for cooperation among stakeholders, including raising awareness and build capacity on sustainable land management initiatives and programmes in the SADC Region..
Ambassador Faranisi said since Zimbabwe has been considered in the past as the bread basket of the SADC Region, it would continue working with countries in the Region to enhance that status. He said the country had done a lot to climate-proof its agriculture and the Great Green Wall Initiative by SADC could come in handy to support implementation and development of conducive policies in line its national commitments, as well as regional and continental obligations.
“At national level, we have our National Development Strategy 1 and also Vision 2063, so we need support on those policies to ensure that are able to meet our national obligations. For example, at the national level, we have made food security and nutrition a priority because once you have that it means you can contribute to the development of a healthier nation and therefore plan. Going forward, we also have the climate change resilient and resource management, we cannot turn away from these issues. So these are some of the areas we expect intervention,” he said.
Ambassador Faranisi said there was a need for assistance through resource mobilisation -- financial or technical -- because as countries address climate change, they needed appropriate technology and well-structured financial packages in order to move forward.
On de-risking investment, he said while there were a lot of perceptions about Zimbabwe, the country was addressing these through reforms which have seen the country improving the ease of doing business by addressing issues that affected business in the past.
“We are in a prime position to play a role in terms of ensuring food security, we need assistance to tell the Zimbabwean story and what we have done, and there is evidence, and through SADC and the AU that story can be told,” he said.
Ambassador Faranisi said another area that countries needed to focus on is enhancing climate proofing evidence-based programming through strengthening irrigation development and water harvesting. Zimbabwe had done a lot in this regard with the emphasis that building dams alone was not the ultimate solution, but development of irrigation systems using appropriate technologies and climate-proof agriculture policies.
That is why the country was implementing the Pfumvudza (climate-proof agriculture) project where government supports farmers through providing inputs so as to ensure that they have enough food for household consumption, leading to self-sufficiency. Beyond that, the government was encouraging the farmers to have extra plots to produce surplus for sale and generate extra income.
“So these are the areas in which we are enhancing capacity building beyond programmes, either at individual or institution levels, to ensure that we increase production, go in for production, go beyond that acknowledging that climate change is for real and whatever we do we must pay particular attention to that,” said Ambassador Faranisi.
