CHEMICALS have been used for many years to
enhance agricultural production. The use of such chemicals as DDT has been
widespread until the 1970s when biologists understood it was causing
significant damage to soils, biodiversity and humans.
Some soils were no longer actively responding
to the application of agro-chemicals, biologists said, while instead of
improving food production the opposite was now true.
In Zimbabwe, chemicals are extensively
used in agriculture, particularly in regions where soils are known to be poor
and sandy, and these are also the regions where poor communal farmers are
mostly concentrated. Changes in the climate system have also been a
cause for serious concern, as local agriculture and food production systems are
under stress.
Organic farming brings hope
Now in a country where participation by
communal farmers in tobacco farming has increased along with chemical use, the
Global Environment Facility, a multilateral institution providing aid
and support to developing countries in areas such as climate change, has scored
measurable success in limiting the use of chemicals in agriculture. Through its
Small Grants Programme (SGP), the GEF funded a project on organic farming for
the elimination of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and biodiversity
conservation in Manicaland.
The US$50 000 project was implemented in two
phases between 2006 and 2011, involving some 500 households in the villages of
Chitsva, Cheneka, Tandi and Chirimutsitu in Makoni District. The GEF said the
project attempted to eliminate the use of dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane
(DDT) in order to rehabilitate the environment and to improve the quality of
life of the local communities. It promoted chemically clean food production,
minimising inputs of chemical fertilisers, agro chemicals and associated
by-products.
The project also promoted alternatives to
tobacco farming by encouraging diversified income generation activities,
including apiculture, aquaculture as well as organic mushroom production.
"The project was successful at demonstrating how communities can develop
and benefit from organic agriculture in order to sustainably manage their
environment, as well as to generate socio-economic benefits," said the
GEF.
"Among the environmental results
achieved, several types and quantities of POPs have been eliminated from the
community as local farmers have abandoned the use of inorganic fertilisers and
have holistically embraced organic farming methods."
Good pickings for farmers, the environment
During the course of the two project phases,
524 farmers were trained in organic farming. The GEF said 450 hectares of land
are now under extensive organic farming and more than two thirds of the farmers
are ready for organic certification and accreditation. The community
constructed 20 liquid manure plants to improve soil fertility management, which
are now being used by farmers in Makoni District. Several local farmers have
even constructed their own manure plants at household level.
Communities employed Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) strategies such as intercropping and use of natural herbicides
and plants for pest control, said GEF. The project also promoted biodiversity
conservation, with the creation of a gene bank through the establishment of 10
hectares of farmland for planting open- pollinated varieties of maize seed and
wide varieties of legumes.
"The project helped develop the
community's capacity to capitalise on their organic agricultural activities.
Communities in the project area now engage in diversified agricultural
production ranging from organic dryland farming, organic horticulture
production, nursery management, mushroom production and beekeeping.
"Farmers grow organic vegetables that
include garlic, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms and sugar beans for household
consumption and for sale. As a result, the food security status of the
participating community has significantly improved, while participating local
farmers have reported improved and increased yields from their fields,"
reported the GEF.
On average, participating farmers have been
able to generate annual incomes of US$250 to US$300 from the sale of vegetables
in local markets, it said.
Organic farmers' association launched
Encouraged by the project, farmers have now
established the Makoni Organic Farmers' Association (MOFA) to strengthen their
capacities, diversify their products and penetrate wider local and
international markets. The MOFA has now been able to secure GEF SGP funds for a
follow-up project. Many women are in positions of leadership in the
association. Out of over 500 farmers in the association, about 60 percent are
women.
The project has now managed to mobilise the
local farmers as well as the local government and traditional leadership to draw
up by-laws targeting the promotion and implementation of organic agriculture in
the community.
As a result, this group was the first in
Zimbabwe to receive organic farming certification.
Today these farmers are working with other
organisations such as the Zimbabwe Organic Partners and Promoters Association
and the Government in a bid to develop a National Policy on Organic Farming.
The GEF unites 182 countries in partnership
with international institutions, civil society organisations and the private
sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national
sustainable development initiatives.
The GEF Small Grants Programme supports
activities of non-governmental and community-based organisations in developing
countries towards climate change abatement, conservation of biodiversity,
protection of international waters, reduction of the impact of persistent
organic pollutants and prevention of land degradation while generating
sustainable livelihoods.
Since 1991, the GEF has mobilised in excess of
US$10 billion in grants to over 168 developing countries.
God is faithful.
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