Attachments
Objective
Increase resilience and ensure sustainable structures and measures are in place to promote climate-smart agriculture for increased production and productivity in the context of drought and reduced and erratic rainfall.
Key partners
Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, Crop and Livestock Production Department (CLPD).
Beneficiaries reached
4 675 farmers and 42 ward-based CLPD extension workers.
Activities implemented
- Trained 42 ward-based, CLPD extension staff, 400 lead farmers, 4 000 farmers and 275 volunteer farmers in climate-smart agricultural practices, small grain production and market linkages.
- Printed 5 020 small grain production training manuals in Shona, one of the country’s national languages.
- Distributed 11 tonnes of cowpea, 440 tonnes of fertilizer and 22 tonnes of sorghum to 4 400 lead and mentored farmers.
- Conducted 16 field days (one per ward) to provide the larger community with the opportunity to learn from the participating farmers, reaching approximately 3 200 farmers.
Impact
- Produced 458.4 tonnes of sorghum and 130.4 tonnes of cowpeas.
- Bolstered skills of 4 675 farmers, increased their production capacity and enhanced their resilience to drought.
- Contributed to project yields 24 percent and 10 percent higher than district yields for sorghum and cowpeas, respectively.
- Facilitated the creation of market linkages to allow farmers to sell their surplus produce to the Grain Marketing Board, WFP and other private buyers, enabling beneficiaries to both generate income in the short term and have an outlet for their produce in the future.