The FAO is actively supporting agricultural development in Zimbabwe through projects under its 2022–2026 Country Programming Framework, focusing on strengthening food security, agricultural resilience and rural livelihoods. Key initiatives include climate-resilient farming, livestock disease mitigation and digital agriculture innovation to enhance production for smallholder farmers.
In a recent interview, the FAO Sub-regional Co-ordinator for Southern Africa and Representative to Zimbabwe, Dr Patrice Talla Takoukam, said the organisation recently supported the Ministry of Agriculture in reviewing the food system transformation strategy for the country.
“It is also important to highlight that our work is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Co-operation Framework for the whole UN system in Zimbabwe, which is also aligned to the National Development Strategies 1 and 2 (NDS1 and NDS2).
“So, as a UN agency, the FAO works with different institutions, mainly the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, on food system transformation,” he said.
He said with the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, through different institutions such as the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), they have been supporting them under the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-7.
Dr Takoukam said GEF-7 was a programme on drylands, providing support to communities living in dryland areas to help them improve their livelihoods while also improving natural resources management.
He added: “So, through the GEF-7 programme, we have supported a number of communities in the Masvingo areas and also in Manicaland, where the communities have been able to build, by themselves, some seed banks, especially for small grains. What we are trying to do is to support the Government in improving small grains, because small grains are climate-resilient.”
Dr Takoukam said Zimbabwe, like many countries in Southern Africa, has been affected by drought, with the most recent being the 2023/24 El Niño-induced drought, which caused widespread crop failure, water scarcity and severe food insecurity.
He said it was important for them to see how they could support the adoption of small grains, which are climate-resilient.
“That is why we have built seed banks in the different communities to help them preserve the seeds they will need when the planting season arrives.
“This is also important for us to preserve the traditional grains that have been used for many years and centuries by these communities, as well as to prevent these small grains from disappearing. It is important that as we ensure food security, we also look at the nutrition aspects and diversify the food diets of the communities,” he said.
Dr Takoukam said through the dryland programmes, they have also greatly improved the quality of the land.
He said while they were implementing various projects, their focus was also on how to ensure the sustainability of the results, scale up what they are doing in other regions, and provide more support to those communities.
“We have been able to train the communities in entrepreneurial capacities as well. They are able to transform their own produce into products that they can sell. They are also scaling up those products to improve their livelihoods and their living conditions,” he added.
“Several times, when we visit those communities, they are able to tell us how these programmes have helped them, not only to improve their livelihoods, but also to improve their quality of life. Now they are able to take care of themselves, take care of their health and send their children to school.”-herald
