The ManicaPost
Daphne Machiri Post Correspondent
YOUTHS should consider venturing into agriculture full time to boost Zimbabwe’s food security, experts have said.
As the future leaders, young people are encouraged to be innovative, instead of waiting for Government to hand them jobs. Employment opportunities can be created along the agricultural value chain.
With Covid-19 hammering many sectors of the global economy, Zimbabwe has not been spared from its effects.
As the country works on achieving food security, different mechanisms have been put in place through the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement.
In addition, agricultural players such as HarvestPlus Zimbabwe and Crop Research at Chinhoyi University of Technology, among others, are determined to contribute towards boosting the country’s food security.
Nutrition sensitive agriculture is crucial in ensuring the country’s food security.
To that end, the Department of Research and Specialist Service, Agritex and UKAid have been funding a livelihood and food security program that saw biofortified orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) trials being done in Makoni district.
After an assessment of the new sweet potato varieties, some farmers preferred Delvia due to its deep orange pigment and sweetness. Some prefer Alisha as it is resistant to flea beetle worms because it of its thick skin.
The OFSP is also drought tolerant and matures early. It can be harvested twice per year. It is also high yielding.
These varieties are also suitable for multiple purposes as they can be consumed by both humans and livestock. In fact, OFSP is an important livestock feed as it improves milk yields. Animals that feed on high protein sweet potato vines produce less methane gas, thereby producing less harmful global emissions.
Communities are not supposed to rely so heavily on food aid from Government and its development partners.
Rather, they should have a starting point so as to ease the burden on the Government’s budget.
With improved agricultural production, more funds can be channelled towards revamping other sectors of the economy to encourage sustainable economic growth.
Therefore even during these trying times, the youth can still contribute enormously in build the economy through agriculture.
Crop diversification will help increase farmers’ incomes and improve nutritional outcomes as well as help the county to become more resilient to external shocks. With a robust agricultural system, Zimbabwe will be prepared for any future crises.
Agritex Roots and Tubers specialist, Mrs Sibongile Makore spoke about the need to move towards creating a zero hunger country.
She encouraged farmers to grow different crops that include nutrient dense, biofortified varieties such as orange maize and orange sweet potatoes in line with the National Food and Nutrition Security Strategies that seek to create zero malnutrition in the country.
“These biofortified sweet potato varieties have shown silver lining towards our nutritional food basket in the country. It gives us the opportunity to see how food is linked to health.
“We need to maximise on the three significant areas of agriculture, including production systems, supply chains and food commodity preferences,” said Mrs Makore.
Coordinator for Crop Research at Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT), Dr Milton Mashavakure commended their collaboration with HarvestPlus Zimbabwe in a number of areas, including the production of bio-fortified crops such as the Vitamin A orange maize, iron bean, and the recent OFSP.
“The new varieties which have been introduced in the country from the International Potato Centre (CIP) have been evaluated in different conditions and various demonstration exercises. As a university, we need to participate and contribute in generating some knowledge on OFSP through our research,” said Dr Mashavakura.
“As we research on the production of OFSP, we have considered a number of factors, including some agronomic valuation, in which we want to see how these varieties adapt to our own environment in Zimbabwe, testing them under some different regimes to see how they respond to soil fertility management and intercropping,” he said.
“We are taking on board our students at different levels, starting with undergraduate students in Biotechnology, Food Science and Technology, Crop science and Post-harvest Technology, Animal Production and Environmental Science.
“All these departments are working hand in hand in the research, establishing some facts regarding the post-harvest quality of these varieties,” said Dr Mashavakura.
He also highlighted that involving the students is essential as there is limited research and less interest on sweet potatoes.
The opportunity for students to explore the OFSP will go a long way in promoting the production and consumption of this valuable crop which is rich in Vitamin A. This nutrient is crucial in young children and pregnant women.
Seasoned Rusape farmer Mr Lancelot Nyenze said the evaluation of OFSP varieties has given him the chance to choose a variety that is suitable for his soil type and region.
“Over the years, we have been using the Chingovha and Germany 11 varieties but now we are embracing the six OFSP varieties.
“We simply plant with the local and improved cultivars. We can recycle the vines for more than a year in our home gardens,” said Mr Nyenze.
He said farmers need to achieve a balance between increased crop production and the development of downstream activities such as processing and marketing in a coordinated manner to ensure increased benefit for all the actors in the chain.
“The value chain approach embraces all key actors in the industry. The sweet potato value chain has the potential to provide income and food security,” said Mr Nyenze.
