Conservation agriculture improves food security – gvt

Harare, (New Ziana) – Since the introduction of the Sustainable Intensive Conservation Agriculture Model – Pfvumvudza/Intwasa – in the 2020/21 summer season, Zimbabwe has made remarkable progress in its quest to achieve rural household food security, the government has said.

In a joint press statement, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development and the Ministry of Labour and Public Service said the crop, livestock and fisheries assessment reports of 2021, 2022 and 2023 have amply demonstrated progressive yield increases and higher household food production countrywide.

The statement said the assessment has been corroborated by the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVac) reports of those years which indicated a rapid reduction in the percentage of rural households that were food insecure.

“The remaining food insecure households have largely been in drier agro-ecological regions 4 and 5. The majority of the food insecure households have not fully embraced Pfvumvudza/Intwasa tenets of timely holing out, timely organic matter placement and liming, timely mulching, and timeous undertaking of best management practices,” read part of the statement.

It added that it has become necessary to link, with immediate effect, access to government and government-facilitated social welfare grain support to vulnerable households to several pre qualification aspects to reduce future household insecurity.

“In this regard, the nation is being informed that grain access pre-qualification will include the family/household commit to undertaking progressive measures to reduce food insecurity, by completing the designated form to enroll for a ‘Supplementary Pfvumvudza/Intwasa Master class’ administered by AGRITEX.

“The family must have done the minimum three Pfvumvudza/Intwasa plots to access grain and village heads assist vulnerable households. A register for such households shall be produced and updated by AGRITEX,” said the statement.

It said the government is committed to ensuring that the nation sustains the national food security status attained because of the progressive and practical interventions undertaken by government.

New Ziana