Building resilience after Cyclone Idai
Farmers say hermetic bags are reducing losses
In 2019, flash floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Idai tore through Manicaland and Masvingo provinces of Zimbabwe, wiping out crops that were already struggling due to El Nino-induced drought. The cyclone caused significant loss of infrastructure, lives, livestock, and crops.
With funding from the World Bank, under the Zimbabwe Idai Recovery Project (ZIRP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Zimbabwe has partnered with World Vision and Leveraging Economic Advancement of the Disadvantaged (LEAD) to support farmers in Cyclone Idai affected areas to rebuild their livelihoods and food security, and strengthen resilience to future shocks; by providing crops and livestock inputs as well as training and extension services.
Constance Pepukai, the ZIRP Project Coordinator, says the training on post-harvest management and the supply of hermetic bags will both cut pesticide costs for farmers and significantly reduce post-harvest losses to almost zero when appropriately used. Hermetic bags provide an airtight storage solution that protects and preserves the quality of dried grains and pulses. The bags also limit the use of harmful pesticides.
The stored grain can last up to two years, and the bag is reusable. Improved storage allows farmers to reap the benefits of improved prices by delaying sales until market prices improve.
"A total of 25,600 hermetic bags have been distributed to 6,400 farming households across four affected districts, namely Chimanimani, Chipinge, Buhera, and Mutare. ZIRP trained the farmers on post-harvest management, and each received four hermetic bags. The grain must be adequately dried before it is stored," she noted.
Elina Sigauke, 61, from Muzila village in Ward 19, Chipinge district, is among the 6400 farmers who received the hermetic bags, and said the bags had proven to be a significant cost-saving technology storing crops.
Ms. Siguake said that grain stored in the new hermetic bags were clean, free from infestation, weevils, and other insects. She added that the hermetic bags' donation was a timely intervention as she and other members of her community were having challenges in buying the necessary pesticides to preserve their harvest.
"We are happy because we did not have money to buy pesticides to preserve our grain. We have learnt that with hermetic bags there is no need to invest in pesticides. We have reduced our post-harvest losses by about a third, at the same time saving a lot of money which we will invest in other things," said Elina.
She added that the one tonne of maize she harvested, through good farming and preservation practices will fetch her good prices at the Grain Marketing Board (GMB). She would be willing to sell a surplus of about half a tonne, contributing to the national grain reserves. "The other half tonne will be for family consumption which will last me the whole year," she added.
Another beneficiary of the ZIRP project, 36-year-old single mother of two, Farrie Mlambo said that good farming practices and better post-harvest management of her grain, had helped her to have an unprecedented surplus grain of 100kgs, which she sold for 500 Rands. She invested the money in a poultry business, which she says will improve her livelihood and food security situation.
"I sold 2 (50kg) bags of surplus maize and invested that money to buy hens. The first hen has hatched 8 chicks and the second hen is brooding 14 eggs. I can safely say 'nzara yapera mumba mangu,' [food security prevails in my house," added Ms. Mlambo. Cyclone Idai had washed away most of her crops before harvest in 2019.
The World Bank approved an exceptional allocation of $72 million to the Zimbabwe Idai Recovery Project (ZIRP), launched in Harare on 2 September 2019. The project aims to address the early recovery and longer-term resilience needs of cyclone-affected people.