Climate change agric initiatives to continue

Zimbabwe is forging ahead with climate smart agriculture initiatives as part of efforts to avert the negative effects of climate change on the agriculture sector which may lead to reduced gross domestic product (GDP).

The country is largely dependent on agriculture and without effective climate smart agriculture adaptation, the impact of a drier climate on the agricultural sector could cause a decline in gross domestic product (GDP) of over 2 percent.

Agriculture contributes between 10 percent to 20 percent of GDP, according to the Climate Smart Agriculture Investment Plan (CSAIP) report launched last week alongside the Public Expenditure Review on Agriculture (PER) report.

Ensuring climate smart investment in agriculture is therefore a priority for economic growth.

Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Minister Dr Anxious Masuka cited the Pfumvudza model as one of the methods of climate smart agriculture adaptations.

“Zimbabwe is already pursuing a selection of climate smart agriculture adaptation through Pfumvudza which includes Conservation Agriculture practices such as zero tillage, crop rotation and mulching.

“Improving the productivity of the sector goes hand in hand with creating an enabling environment in relation to poverty and gender issues, water access and land tenure security.

“Addressing these foundational issues is necessary to move to a more productive, resilient and low emissions agriculture sector that benefits millions of farmers,” said Dr Masuka during a webinar on investing in climate smart agriculture.

The CSAIP is a culmination of stakeholder consultations that prioritises five packages of climate smart investments and policy actions which will support improvement across three pillars namely:

The achievement of a more productive,

Resilient, and

Low-emissions agriculture sector.

The Investment Plan includes investment priorities with promising impact to raise agricultural productivity, resilience to climate change and minimise greenhouse gas emission.

Finance and Economic Development Deputy Minister Clemence Chiduwa said Government was aware of the threat posed by climate variability to economic and food security prompting investments into water resources.

He said: “We are clear, as Government, that climate variability is increasingly becoming a major constraint to economic growth, food security and poverty reduction initiatives in the country, with data trends indicating negative impacts on water resource availability over time. “-herald.co.zw