Agroecology approaches to recover from El-Nino in Zimbabwe

Key messages from a conference to advocate for a regional agroecology policy within the Southern African Development Community.

Authors: Craig E. Murazhi, Dorcas Matangi, Taurai Zingwena, Telma Sibanda, Bolyne T. Chapeyama, Florida Benjamin, Chengetai Koza and Vimbayi G. P. Chimonyo.

Worldwide the impacts of poor nutrition and food insecurity are devastating, and Southern Africa is no exception. Zimbabwe faces worsening food crisis due to El Niño droughts. An international 3-day conference held in Harare in August 2024, proposed to examine agroecology as a solution to climate change-related disasters.

The CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology, led in Zimbabwe by CIMMYT, participated actively in the conference, through a panel discussion, leadership in breakaway sessions, and farmer participation in a marketplace.

Exploring agroecology solutions for Zimbabwe

The event was an opportunity to reflect on the contributions of the CGIAR Agroecology Initiative in Zimbabwe to resolve the main challenges and opportunities discussed at the conference.

Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies. The Agroecological Living Landscapes (ALL) communities adhere to the principle of farming in harmony with nature, participating in action research that includes tree planting for food and afforestation, integrating animals into the habitat, reducing the use of chemicals that pollute the environment and harm flora and fauna, and fostering diversity on farms to support food production and environmental recovery. Sustainable climate practices are explored such as mulching, minimum tillage and crop diversification. The sorghum value chain in Mbire was identified as an appropriate crop for the agroecological region because of the rainfall pattern as a climate change adaptation strategy which also addresses the issue of food insecurity and livelihood sustainability.

Organic agriculture. ALL communities have prioritized studying with CIMMYT the effects of reducing inorganic inputs such as inorganic fertilizers, and pesticide chemicals, the use of push-pull technologies to repel and attract pests for pest control, and live and dead mulch for moisture retention and weed control, or the use of manure to reduce use of synthetic or inorganic fertilizers.

Policy environment. Marked by contradictions, agroecology and commercial farming are both receiving support on paper, but in practice, budgets are predominantly allocated to commercial agriculture. Zimbabwe is implementing an "Agroecology Promotion Policy and Strategy for 2024-2030". The Initiative team is part of a working group that addresses agroecology issues, including advocating for the advancement of Zimbabwe's agroecology strategy.

Market systems for farmers in agroecology. The team has taken a needs-based approach introducing Sasso chickens in Murehwa and developing the sorghum value chain in Mbire. This included farmers training with the support of our scaling partners, Hamara as a partner for the Sasso chicken business model and PHI Commodities for sorghum to enhance marketing strategies.

The conference included a farmers' marketplace.Participants included PELUM, ADRA Zimbabwe, VSO, ZIMSOFF, TSURO, Fambidzanai Permaculture, CIMMYT, ActionAid, Trocaire, DCA, Kurima, EasiSeeds, Mahindra, BancABC, Dulys.

Measuring the performance of agroecology. The conference was the opportunity for FAO to present the agroecology assessment framework TAPE, a comprehensive tool that aims to measure the multi-dimensional performance of agroecological systems across the different dimensions of sustainability. FAO acknowledged the complementarity of TAPE with the Holistic Localized Performance Assessment (HOLPA) developed by the CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology. The team is contributing to HOLPA with more than 200 household datasets.

Indigenous knowledge. The Zimbabwe team has proactively aimed at integrating Indigenous knowledge in the co-created solutions within ALLs with positive responses from communities who are testing particularly solutions for pest management, such as the use of ash and plants like chili for pest control, and animal waste as manure.

Capacity building. Seen as a lever for communities to adopt agroecology, the team is integrating training into all aspects of initiative implementation, and fomenting knowledge exchange through seed networks, fairs, and farmer dialogues. The Initiative has hosted two seed and livestock fairs in Murehwa and Mbire which are among some of the biggest events in AE in the country.

Gender Equality and Social Inclusion. Women and youth have been trained in the ALLs and encouraged to participate and tap into the community's knowledge. Through 'Dialogue with Elders,' this knowledge of food and farming systems, as well as the prevention of human-wildlife conflict, has been integrated into AE research. Mechanization technologies have been introduced to enable youth to love and adopt agroecology and the machinery is gender friendly to allow use by all.

Women smallholder farmers from the Murehwa ALL attending the second day of the regional agroecology conference.

Work in partnership to accelerate agroecology transformations. Employing a partner-led, bottom-up approach to scale agroecology effectively, the Initiative has teamed up in Zimbabwe with a range of partners (IWMI, APT, Hamara Farmer, PHI, BioHubTrust, and Agritex) to support scaling efforts. Farmers, who are central during the action research, play a vital role in this bottom-up approach. They do not only contribute to the initiative but also educate other farmers outside the project, thus fostering broader adoption and adaptation of agroecological practices. Additionally, the Initiative is involved in an agroecology working group that explores various applications of agroecology in the country. Other partners, such as Kurima, Mahindra, and Zimplow, contribute to our mechanization efforts.

Kurima Machinery showcasing their 2-wheel tractor and explaining how the machine is playing a role is AE by reducing drudgery to the smallholder farmer as well as friendly to the women and youth.

Conference recommendations

The conference called upon the African Union (AU) to sustain agroecology advocacy. It was recommended to formulate linkages with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Committee on Agriculture and Climate Change, and to allocate sufficient resources to agroecology initiatives at the country level. Investments in research, innovation, and evidence-gathering should emphasize farmer-led research. The continuous sharing of successful practices and technologies across regions was considered fundamental to promoting agroecology solutions.

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