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To cope with low yields, income losses and the risk of hunger, the Government of Zimbabwe turned to FAO for assistance to help farmers in marginal areas of the country focus more on the production of minor grains such as sorghum and millet.
Both are traditionally important crops that can be grown with relatively little water – and both are more nutritious than corn.
In partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development of Zimbabwe, FAO launched a two-year pilot project in September 2010 to boost the production, processing and marketing of small grains in three of the country’s arid provinces.
Maize is a crop that almost every farmer in Zimbabwe wants to grow, according to Joyce Mulila-Mitti, FAO’s chief technical officer for the project. “Maize is so popular that even some parts of the country that have challenging conditions prefer to grow it,” she said, including areas that receive less than 600 millimeters of rainfall a year.
Incentives for corn cultivation are strong, in part because of government policies and agricultural extension services targeting corn production, aggressive marketing by seed companies and millers, favorable pricing policies, and strong demand. High-yield corn varieties and technologies are also readily available.
In contrast, growing fine grains is not easy for farmers in Zimbabwe’s drylands, even though such crops are better adapted to the environment and are an excellent source of protein, energy, vitamins and minerals.
First, production costs are high and quality seeds are in short supply. During droughts, farmers often have to reuse the same seeds the next season, resulting in lower yields. Traditional grain processing is labor-intensive and lacks research and technical support.
Removing barriers
But addressing these constraints is exactly what the project aims to do. That means ensuring that farmers have a reliable source of high-yielding, improved sorghum and millet seed varieties. The project trained several farmers and officials from the Department of Agricultural Technology and Extension Services (AGRITEX), the project’s implementing partner, to develop the seeds. By establishing community-based seed production and distribution systems in the nine participating regions, the project brought seeds closer to farmers.
It helps strengthen the capacity of AGRITEX staff to provide technical support to seed producers and ensures that seed multiplication knowledge is passed on to other extension workers and farmers through training and production manuals. Knowledge is also passed from farmers to researchers at the Plant Breeding Institute, which monitors seed and grain producers.
chain reaction
Through demonstration plots, exchange visits and field activities, farmers can see first-hand the advantages of improved varieties and technologies introduced by the project, and discuss and compare different crop management methods.
One such field trip attracted more than 250 people, including elders and councillors from the community. One woman explained that she was encouraging more farmers in her area to try growing fine grains, especially because the improved varieties mature earlier. “I have harvested enough sorghum and pearl millet crops to last my family until next season, with some left over to sell,” she said.
Ensuring market security
The sustainability of seed and food production depends on secure markets. Without markets, farmers have no incentive to produce.
Exchange visits and field days provide an ideal setting for farmers to trade seeds with other farmers and stakeholders.
The project also links farmers to niche markets such as brewing companies (the main consumer of sorghum) and non-governmental organizations involved in the seed distribution program in Zimbabwe.
Policy environment key
Minor grains have great potential to not only improve the diet and income of farmers in marginal areas of Zimbabwe, but also ensure national food security.
The FAO project has laid the foundation for sustainable small food production and has engaged more farmers, even outside the project area, but Ms. Mulila-Miti said more needs to be done, starting with creating an enabling policy environment.
Given the recurrence of droughts, not only should the production of minor crops be expanded in marginal areas of the country under the guidance of AGRITEX, but farmers in maize-producing areas should also reserve part of their land for the cultivation of minor crops to mitigate disaster risks.
Government policy on the supply side means including sorghum and millet in input supply programmes, which is what the country is currently doing in drought-stricken areas. It also means supporting more small grain production research and extension services.
The small motorized grain threshers provided by the project not only save farmers time in harvesting, but also reduce impurities in the grain, helping farmers to get a better price. As production increases, more threshers should be provided to farmers.
New markets should be explored, including in neighbouring countries such as Botswana, where “people eat sorghum as a staple food, just like they eat maize in other parts of southern Africa,” Ms. Mulila-Miti said.
Finally, it is important to educate the public about the nutritional value of sorghum and millet, as well as to ensure that these grains are widely available – from stores selling sorghum and millet flour to fast food outlets and restaurants that serve small grains as a staple.
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