1.0 THE ZIMBABWE EL NINO-INDUCED DROUGHT: STRATEGIES AND MEASURES FOR MITIGATION AND RESILIENCE BUILDING
Cabinet considered the Report on the Zimbabwe El Nino-induced Drought: Strategies and Measures for Mitigation and Resilience Building which was presented by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Honourable Dr. A.J. Masuka.
The nation is informed that Zimbabwe has adopted a double-pronged approach to climate-proofing agricultural production since 2020, which has seen the country returning to national cereal sufficiency in normal rainfall years. At the small-holder level, the sustainable intensive conservation model, Pfumvudza/Intwasa, with the attendant agro-ecological matching of crops, launched in the 2020/2021 summer season, has largely worked well but it too is ultimately a rain-fed practice, relying on rainfall for its success. At the national level, Cabinet therefore approved the Accelerated Irrigation Rehabilitation and Development Plan in 2021, with the aim of developing 350 000 hectares for summer irrigation by 2025, in order to produce 1.8 million metric tonnes summer cereals annually, enough to feed the nation and generate a surplus.