DEPRESSING MAIZE PHOTOS EMERGING ACROSS THE COUNTRY DUE TO DRY SPELLS
Fellow citizens, social media has recently been flooded with images of vast maize fields withering due to insufficient rainfall across the country. This poses a serious setback for us farmers, given the high cost of production we have been battling with this farming season. It is also a huge loss on the government’s side that invested billions of dollars through FISP and loans to farmers.Moreover, this situation, which has already devastated thousands of hectares of white maize across the country, signals a threat to national food security this year, as even if the rains return, some of the maize may not survive.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
For years, I have advocated for a shift away from relying solely on rain-fed maize and other crops towards irrigation. Late last year, I shared an article here, and while some criticized me for warning about possible drought, it’s important to remember that human activities such as population growth and mining have disrupted natural patterns causing unpredictable weather situations.
Arguing from the development perspective, development requires contingency plans. Planning for unforeseen circumstances is essential in any project especially on matters that surrounds our staple food.
As things stand, I am uncertain about the Ministry of Agriculture’s response to this damage. If it were up to me, the government would urgently allocate resources and identify potential farmers with land and water resources across the country, like myself, to provide them with commercial farming equipment such as center pivots and tractors on flexible loan terms. Alternatively, entering into a memorandum of understanding with the government, facilitated by the Ministry of Agriculture, could involve the farmer(s) supplying maize to the government at a reasonable price until the loan is repaid. Decentralizing this approach could bolster food security, which is likely to be threatened on a national scale due to the extensive damage to maize crops.
The other urgent need from the government would be electricity and the drilling of commercial boreholes, contingent upon us, the beneficiary farmers, assisting the government in mitigating the problems. These they should all be tied to securing food for the country and if a beneficiary is found selling the food to black market, serious punishment such as imprisonment and fines should be imposed. Additionally, under such a scheme, the government can designate each farmer to grow a certain type of food so that we can balance the nutrition. We should not wait for another disastrous 1995 were we ended up importing yellow maize meant for animals from America which had alot of GMO. Let us think ahead please.
I have shared these views several times with the Ministry of Agriculture and I pray that one day they will see sense in this cry and try this approach even with five farmers and see how it can do.
As things stand, I have not yet been affected because all my portions of maize about 65 hectares are surviving and I am hopeful for more stable rains in the next few weeks though I don’t know how the end will be. However, the plight of fellow farmers is also my concern. This is how some of us are more than willing to aid the government in ensuring food security
If we continue to ignore climate change issues, we may face entire years without rainfall, and failure to implement policies such as irrigation will exacerbate economic troubles beyond what we are currently experiencing.
In my case, if provided with such equipment, I am confident that I could maximize winter maize production on 500 hectares of land in my district throughout the year. Imagine if the government supported 100 farmers per district – together, we could address these challenges effectively.
SIKAILE C SIKAILE
CONCERNED FARMER
