Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) executive director, Mr Paul Zakariya has called for the adoption of “Smart Agriculture” which he said had the potential to save the country from future droughts.
In an interview with the Herald on Tuesday, Zakariya also said there was the need to adopt small grain crops which are drought resistant compared to maize which the country considers staple food. He said:
We need to employ smart agriculture because it is now true that there will be little rainfall unlike in the previous years so we need to adopt smart farming methods.
Experts have said there will be no rainfall for quite some time, so we need to invest in irrigation and smart agricultural practices.
Zakariya added that it was essential to improve water harvesting techniques to avoid drought.
His remarks come when Zimbabwe is facing severe starvation due to El Nino induced drought and Cyclone Idai which destroyed crops which were just weeks away from harvest.
Experts have since forecasted that there shall be drought again this year (2020) and in 2021.
