Govt, FAO launch biodiversity project

Zimbabwe has come up with several policy and strategy documents to mainstream climate-smart agriculture, conserve biodiversity and build resilient food production systems as part of its overall development strategies,trying to ensure that this development is done right.
Agriculture Reporter

With biodiversity being lost through agricultural practices that stress a very few varieties, Government and the Food and Agriculture Organisation will today launch a study funded by the European Union on the impact of agricultural processes and practices that undermine the functional sustainability.

The project comes under the third phase of the formal programme labelled Capacity Building Related to Multilateral Environmental Agreements in African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries, or ACP-MEAs 3.

The EU has injected US$10 million, with the Zimbabwe programme expected to get just over half and the rest shared by Rwanda, Tanzania and Niger, Saint Lucia in the Caribbean and Solomon Islands in the Pacific region.

The programme will be jointly launched by senior Government officials from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement and Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry and will be attended by critical agriculture stakeholders, academia, research and environmental institutions.

In a joint statement on Monday, the Ministry of Lands and FAO said the global loss of biodiversity in agriculture had reached unprecedented levels, threatening processes such as pollination, organic matter and nutrient cycling.

“Zimbabwe is a signatory to five multilateral environmental agreements that are key global instruments promoting the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity within all its associated ecological, natural support services and the sound management of pesticides.

“Contemporary farming practices widely adopted as critical food production systems are significant contributors to biodiversity loss. Currently, agricultural productivity is being sustained through heavy reliance on externally-sourced synthetic agricultural inputs such as inorganic fertilisers and pesticides for soil fertility and pest or disease management respectively, some of which are classified as highly hazardous pesticides, which negatively affect plants and animals,” said the statement.

Over dependence on scarce natural resources, climate change, and pollution, including contamination from chemical mismanagement, have become some of the critical challenges affecting people.

“There is alarming evidence suggesting that the global environmental boundaries are reaching their thresholds and tipping, evidenced by the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, pest outbreaks and other ecological imbalances.

“The implementation of these interlinked multilateral environmental agreements would benefit from an effective synergized and cross-sectoral approach. Mainstreaming biodiversity into sectoral and cross-sectoral relevant policies, plans, and programmes is essential for halting the loss of biodiversity and achieving resilient societies that depend on sustainable agricultural systems and provide food and nutrition security,’ said the statement.

Zimbabwe has come up with several policy and strategy documents to mainstream climate-smart agriculture, conserve biodiversity and build resilient food production systems as part of its overall development strategies,trying to ensure that this development is done right.

These policy documents include the Draft National Agriculture Policy Framework; National Development Strategy 1; National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans; National Climate Policy; Food and Nutrition Security Strategy; Food and Nutrition Security Policy; Agriculture and Food System Transformation Strategy; Climate-Smart Agriculture Manual; and, the National Strategy and Action Plans for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

These policy and strategy documents are aimed at creating sustainable food production systems and promoting climate-resilient and viable production systems.

Currently Zimbabwe is implementing sustainable climate-smart and ecosystems-based agricultural practices such as the Pfumvudza concept, integrated pest management, organic farming and Climate-Smart Agriculture, which all align well within the agro-ecological approaches being championed under the National Agricultural Policy Framework Pillar 8 work stream.-heraldc.l.zw