Farmers intensify planting
Friday, 14 December 2012 00:00
Rodney Pachiti Herald Reporter
PERI-URBAN farmers have taken advantage of the recent rains to intensify planting ahead of the 2012/2013 farming season. In a recent tour of areas surrounding Harare, The Herald established that peri-urban farmers had started planting following a wet spell experienced in those areas since last week.
Resettled farmers in Dema, Juru, Bhora, Chabwino and Domboshava lauded the Presidential Well Wishers Inputs Scheme for making available seed in time for the planting season.
Mr Israel Chingwanangwana of Juru said although the rains had delayed, there was no need to panic. He however, appealed for immediate help in accessing fertiliser.
“It has been raining everyday and if the rains continue we are expecting a bumper harvest. Our only worry is the shortage of fertiliser, which is beyond our affordability. A bag of top dressing is selling for US$40 and Compound D is fetching at least US$36,” said Mr Chingwanangwana.
Farmers in Domboshava are using cow dung as a substitute for Compound D.
“For the mean time we are using cow dung to plant maize and soya beans but we are hoping to get the promised fertiliser in time to allow for the cobs to mature and produce healthy grain,” said Mrs Susan Shumba.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, URBAN FARMING
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Peri-urban farmers start replanting
Friday, 07 December 2012 00:00
Agriculture Reporter
MOST peri-urban farmers in Harare have started replanting and weeding following the recent rains. Yesterday, they were replanting maize, which had failed to germinate owing to the dry weather conditions while a few were concentrating on land preparations. Mrs Nelly Muhangu of Mbare, Harare, said she had planted her crops mid last month, but they were affected by hot weather.
“I am just hoping the rains will continue for some time so that the seed I am planting will germinate,” she said. Mr Leonard Nyakudenga of Mabvuku said this was the third time he was replanting.
“I now have three different stages of maize in my field as I have continued replanting.
“I have learnt a lesson to stagger planting dates so that when the other crop is affected the other part may do better and I will have something to harvest,” he said.
Mr Nyakudenga said in future he would not apply fertiliser when planting as this had a negative effect if rains are not consistent.
Some farmers complained that they had run out of seed and were now replating using retained seed.
The Meteorological Services Department forecasted normal to below normal rainfall during the first half of the season (October, November and December) 2012/13 season.
Normal to above normal rain associated with floods is expected from January, until March.
The country has been experiencing inconsistent rainfall seasons and persistent droughts, attributed to climate change.
Labels: URBAN FARMING
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Let’s embrace urban farming
Friday, 30 September 2011 02:00
In contemporary years the world has been bombarded with unending challenges of food security, economic development, poverty alleviation, urban blight, waste recycling and environmental preservation effects which have also proved to be new threats to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, urban communities have been the most affected and have taken urban agriculture as an ameliorative tool.
This has resulted in the expansion of urban agriculture worldwide - a phenomenon that has wedged the attention of policy makers, pressure groups, politicians and funding agencies. Within the last decade, the practice has gained widespread value in urban areas due to increasing urban food insecurity, souring environmental degradation and competition from other land uses such as residential development.
As a result, today's planners are of the view that these recent developments and acceptance of urban agriculture be it formal or informal, presents a new dawn of challenges for planning and managing the urban space for urban agriculture. Urban agriculture generally refers to the growing of plants and the raising of animals for food and other uses within urban and peri-urban areas, related activities such as the production and delivery of inputs, and the processing and marketing of products. It takes many dimensions, which include-plot farming around the residential plot such as out growers and off-plot, which takes place on open spaces within the built up areas.
To many people, farming in general is often seen as a rural livelihood but that has since challenged the notion as cities have become consumers of "rural foodstuffs".
This stereotype is such that when people migrate to urban areas they tend to ditch agriculture but the truth can be rather different. Urban dwellers have, however, due to rapid urbanisation in developing countries failed to break their rural way of life leading to the proliferation of urban farming. It is like a mother and foetus relationship whereby the existence of each rest on each other
This scenario has mainly been precipitated by declining economies of scale in respect to less developed countries of which Zimbabwe is not an exception.
Moreover, due to the growing effects of climatic change which have impacted negatively on most economies especially in developing countries, quite a number of cities simply could not feed themselves without the support of produce from their backyards, roadside verges, riverbanks, parks and allotments hence urban agriculture.
During the past decade, state land policies through land reform emphasised mainly on allocation of land to the majority especially the landless in rural areas.
This development in fact seems sidelining urban agriculture as people will always have the perspective that farming is only for rural areas hence creating stereotyping. Of late, in Harare urban agriculture has been a vital source of food for the poor and even middle-income households.
Furthermore, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recognises urban agriculture as global phenomenon as it stipulates that one in three of the world's urban residents grow some food, and urban areas provide around 15 percent of global food production. Of particular importance is the fact that the role of urban agriculture in the food supply of cities and towns, as a compliment to rural agriculture, is becoming a critical issue in the world economy.
A recent study by Sharanbir Grewal of the Ohio State University found out that it's possible for a city to be 100 percent reliant on food grown and raised in the city to meet basic food needs. And at the very least urban agriculture could be doing much more to feed the city.
There is clear evidence that urban agriculture is increasing rapidly in urban areas, particularly in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia and Tanzania.
It has become an essential socio-economic activity for the urban poor particularly in Harare and a great contributor to food security and income generation for the poor families. With the 2015 deadline for the attainment of the MDGs and the widespread notion of sustainable development on cards, the inevitable factors of rapid urbanisation coupled with the dwindling socio-economic environment faced by most developing nations, urban agriculture face the prospect of growing to unprecedented levels in the near future.
The only constriction is its growth in residential development. In addition, the Herald of 13 July, 2010 carried a headline, "City of Harare boundaries extended" of which it was reported that 20 farms have been sidelined for residential development hence clearly outlining the fact that agriculture is being seen as a peripheral activity yet it is the backbone of the country in the region and that taps from the responsibility of ensuring food security in the Sadc region.
More so, urban agriculture often exists in a "permissible no-man's land" and access to land has basically been through informal means such as self-allocation, invasion, and inheritance, resulting it taking place on illegal land.
This has resulted in farmers living in constant fear of eviction. This happened the previous season in Harare as maize crops were slashed owing to the informal nature of it. One may also need to ask questions of this nature: has urban agriculture improved or deterred development of urban areas, what are its major implications in general and is there a permanent solution to the challenge of formalising urban agriculture?
Currently, Harare urban agriculture has been an embedded strategy for sustaining livelihoods of urban populations as it presents a lot of benefits such as providing food and indirectly generating household income through petty cash sales and saving on food expenditure, employment and selling of surplus production.
In addition, it has sustained urban population in terms of poverty and has contribution to urban economic activities through processing and marketing of the produce. Socially, it retains the rural links, and makes individuals feel complete as humans thus according them status and self-sufficiency and restrain them from being "beggars".
However, without bypassing the negative effects, most urban farmers practice environmentally threatening farming methods such as monoculture, cultivating on
ecological sensitive areas.
Urban agriculture thus remains a vital activity that should not be given a blind eye or passive attention by local authorities. To most urban planners and municipalities, urban agriculture is viewed as a detriment activity to urban development and management yet in reality it might be an antidote to urban development and management if it is formalised, consciously planned and supported. In other words this may imply professionalisation of urban agriculture.
* Shingai T Kawadza is a final year Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Rural and Urban Planning at the University of Zimbabwe.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, URBAN FARMING
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Age not an obstacle for successful urban farmer
Sunday, 24 April 2011 20:46
By Shingirai Huni
THE plot stands proudly in the April sunshine flaunting the brown heads of rapoko nodding to the steady wind.
Adjacent to the rapoko is a maize crop whose cobs point to the sky like huge cursing fingers and then there is an assortment of pumpkins that scatter like dead objects just dropped from the sky.
An array of ridges crack and push the soil apart as evidence of sweet potatoes that lie underneath awaiting eventual harvest.
The plot is well managed under systematic crop rotation that could easily make many a farmer green with envy.
This is naked evidence that widowed Mbuya Cecilia Taruvinga-Nyandoro (70) of Marimba Park in Harare does not have her advancing age, which proverbially comes with wisdom, as the only reason to celebrate.
Over the years she has become adept in growing rapoko, pumpkins, maize, groundnuts, onion and mango fruits at her two-acre plot. This year she is set for yet another bumper harvest.
While many urban and peri-urban farmers have opted for maize for subsistance, Mbuya Nyandoro, as she is affectionately known, grows the small grain using conservation farming method.
"I have been doing this for the last 26 years.
"Conservation farming has enabled me and my family to have bumper harvests every year and ensured food security.
"I use organic manure from a compost that I make after each harvest and I put the stalks of the harvested crop underground. The compost is 3 x 100 metres and it is from it that I get manure for the crop," she said.
Mbuya Nyandoro says she got the farming skills from her late husband who was given a Master of Tillage certificate in 1950.
She boasts that the knowledge she has acquired over the years of experience, trumps any that can be given by conventional extension workers.
"Extension officers are not doing enough to disseminate knowledge to our farmers," she said.
Mbuya Nyandoro said she is passionate about farming and that it is her wish to be given a bigger space of land to fully express her talent.
She said people must fully appreciate the efforts pursued by President Mugabe to fully utilise our land.
"I appeal to Government for a bigger land because my yard is getting smaller for my yields. I want to showcase my capabilities at a larger scale," she said.
She also called on people to heed the call by President Mugabe to till the land and ensure food security.
"People should emulate the efforts of our President and put this land to use, whether at home or at a farm," she said.
Her son George Nyandoro testifies to the farming astuteness of his mother.
He said the by growing rapoko and pumpkins his mother was heeding calls by vice President Joice Mujuru's to grow small grains which are drought resistant.
"This year my mother took heed to the calls of the Vice President (Joice Mujuru) to grow rapoko and pumpkins as they are drought resistant and it paid dividends.
"She is expecting a bumper harvest from her rapoko, maize, pumpkins and sweet potatoes," he said.
Mbuya Nyandoro sells the produce to surrounding areas.
Labels: URBAN FARMING
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Investment, hope lost in a flash
Saturday, 15 January 2011 19:36
By Charlotte Musarurwa
MRS Alice Chiwashira, a 65-year-old granny from Harare’s Kuwadzana suburb, cannot hold back her tears.
She had invested so much in her small field on the outskirts of the suburb, sometimes foregoing meals for her to buy inputs. But she lost all her investment and hopes of an improved food security situation in a flash.
The Harare City Council has controversially embarked on a mission to slash thriving maize crops grown on open spaces in the city.
Mrs Chiwashira is one of the victims of the policy which has taken many residents by surprise.
The city council’s decision comes despite the fact that urban farming is being touted as one of the easiest solutions to food security in towns.
Mrs Chiwashira said she had been sustained by urban farming since 1985, but was taken aback when she recently fell victim to the council’s decision.
What confused Mrs Chiwashira was that she knew that the Government was in full support of urban farming, having distributed inputs to such farmers only last year.
It all happened on Christmas Day when she had foregone celebrations to work in her “field”.
“They came and slashed my maize without saying a word to me,” said Mrs Chiwashira.
“I felt powerless because I could do nothing to stop them. I had sacrificed my time during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays to work on this field that I looked up to it to sustain my family.”
Mrs Chiwashira said she was embarrassed by the act because she had forced her grandchildren to join her in weeding the field on Christmas Day.
The children, she said, wondered at why they had “wasted” their time by coming to the “field” instead of enjoying Christmas with their peers.
“We received free inputs and fertilisers from the Government as support for the small-scale farmers, but what pained most was the energy and time that I spent on this field,” said Mrs Chiwashira.
“I know that the Governor of Harare (Cde David Karimanzira) has always urged us to utilise the idle land. What wrong have we done now?”
Mrs Chiwashira expressed her disappointment as she said the slashed maize that she had planted had almost reached maturity stage.
“It was like a mystery as I watched my maize being wiped out by the city workers,” she said.
“Every year, my grandchildren and I depend on that maize for family consumption. We are still surviving from the maize that we harvested from this same field last year.”
Another Kuwadzana resident, Mr Claude Chimbuto, said it seemed the city authorities had targeted Kuwadzana in their initial phase of slashing the maize crop.
He said the city workers had come to slash the maize crop on three occasions since December last year.
They had been replanting each time the crops were slashed, but they had now lost hope of going back to the “fields”. Council had been very strict this year,” said Mr Chimbuto.
“We are against this move. Instead of concentrating on service delivery which includes garbage collection, they are busy disadvantaging the residents.”
The city council has since proffered the reason that some murders had taken place in the maize fields last year because of the cover provided to thieves by the crops.
Some residents support the idea “if it is going to ensure that we are safe from the robbers”.
For some time, the residents of Kuwadzana have been complaining that they have to travel home earlier than usual to avoid being mugged by robbers when they follow footpaths in the fields.
The situation had been made worse with the electricity load shedding which ensures there is more darkness.
More than seven people were last year murdered while passing through the maize fields in Kuwadzana alone, with several more deaths reported in other parts of Harare.
Harare City Council spokesperson Mr Leslie Gwindi said there was nothing wrong with urban farming as long as the farmers stick to designated areas.
“There are some cases of murder which were recorded last year,” he said.
“People should not take advantage of the land that is not being used by the council to open up their fields.
“The fact that the land is idle does not mean that it is legal to clear it for farming. The maize crop also obstructs road users.”
Mr Gwindi said the instruction to slash maize actually came from the police who were concerned after two people were murdered last year while using footpaths in the fields.
Some of the urban farmers are involved in stream bank cultivation which compromises the environment.
Mr Gwindi last year warned residents against practising stream bank cultivation, saying council would not hesitate to take tough action against those in the habit.
Stream bank cultivation has become popular in areas such as Mabvuku, Dzivaresekwa and Chitungwiza.
If properly done, urban agriculture contributes to food supplies for urban people.
According to some researches, the role of urban agriculture in the food supply chain to cities and towns, as a complement to rural agriculture, is becoming an important issue in the Sadc region.
There is evidence that urban agriculture is increasing in many urban areas, sometimes dramatically, particularly in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania.
Research has also noted that poor families spend 60 percent or more of their income on food, whilst city dwellers pay 10-13 percent more of their income on food compared to rural inhabitants.
There is no doubt that urban agriculture is an important socio-economic activity for the urban poor, particularly for the developing countries.
In the past, urban farming in Zimbabwe was a rare activity among the residents, but the situation has since changed in recent years.
The food shortages that were experienced in the past years forced many to venture into urban farming as a way of subsidising their income.
A recent report by the Municipal Development Partnership Programme shows that the expansion of urban farming is a worldwide phenomenon that has caught the attention of policymakers and funding agencies.
It is generally considered as a new response to issues of food security, economic and development and poverty alleviation.
Yet the issue of slashing maize by the Harare City Council has courted controversy, with some councillors castigating the move, saying it was not a council resolution.
The chairman of the Environmental Committee, Councillor Herbert Gomba, said his committee had never discussed such an issue.
“We have no policy to slash maize,” he said. “We are investigating that and we will ensure that whoever did it is punished. We believe we must be proactive to stop the cultivation rather than to cut down thriving maize crops.
“We never had such a decision that maize should be slashed, some council employees have made their decision without consulting us or informing us.”
Councillor Gomba said they were inundated with reports that many residents were wondering why council did not support urban farming.
He said council would hold a meeting on January 27 to discuss the issue.
The councillors would want to discover who exactly authoritised the employees to slash the maize.
But it remains to be seen if the council would stop its action, considering that it contravenes utterances by Government officials encouraging urban farming.
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Labels: HARARE CITY COUNCIL, MAIZE, MDC, URBAN FARMING
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Fifth Ward Garden growing by onions and tomatoes
UhuruNews
Published Jun 3, 2010
Carolyn Rodgers, Acting Chairwoman, Houston-AAPDEP
HOUSTON — During the March 14 “Time to Till” event, members of Houston’s All African People’s Development and Empowerment Project (AAPDEP) came with shovels, tillers, hoes, rakes, and an assortment of other garden tools. The Fifth Ward Community Garden and Food Co-Op was only an idea of its organizers.
Visitors and proud supporters of AAPDEP-Houston GardenThe flyer that was used to familiarize and win the community support for the project stated in part, “The community garden is an opportunity to do for ourselves. Once a week, we go to the food banks and stand in line for second class vegetables and food. But with the Fifth Ward Community Garden we will be harvesting and eating our own food in three months.”
Well, we have exceeded our own expectations. It has only been two months and we already harvested from the garden and the community has taken the garden as their own. The neighbor who donated the vacant lot is particularly proud of the accomplishments, and the community people, who have planted rows with the vegetables of their choice, reveal how real self-determination work can uplift the people’s fighting spirit.
The onions and radishes are already being eaten, and the community had to prop up the tomato plants with stakes because they bore so many tomatoes. The beans and peas grow by leaps and bounds, and the squash and cucumbers are tied off from one another.
The mustard and collard greens have grown to the point that they must be thinned out this week or we will just have to eat them now. The okra, watermelon and cantaloupe run vines with blossoms and will bear fruit soon, and the corn is well on its way to being edible.
Our main mission now is to organize the food distribution through the food Co-op which the garden is demanding be organized.
AAPDEP main garden coordinator, Joseph Burnett, who works and waters the garden each and every day, along with one community worker or AAPDEP member, has made the garden a community showplace. People drive through just to see the garden and to take pictures and ask questions.
Some of AAPDEP Houston members, who are also part of the APSP Congress Committee, will be having flea market and fish sales to raise money to get to the 5th Congress of the Party in Washington, DC from July 10-14 this year. They will come to the Congress to show off what they have done.
To visit the Garden, come by 3707 Brill Street, Houston, Texas 77026. Or call 281-974-2012 or email houstongarden@development.org
Labels: HOUSTON TX, URBAN FARMING
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Governor promotes urban agiculture
Herald Reporter
HARARE Metropolitan Governor Cde David Karimanzira has urged residents to make use of open spaces around their communities to carry out farming activities to supplement their incomes and stabilise food prices.
He described farming as another way of boosting income, which can help reduce the prices of food stuffs. "Although farming was regarded as dirty and only for the rural people, it can also be done in urban areas to supplement families’ income."
Cde Karimanzira made the remarks at Highfield District Dry Show, last Friday, where urban farmers were exhibiting their crops in preparation of the Harare Agricultural Show, to be held in August.
Cde Karimanzira said maize production for the 2009- 2010-farming season in the capital increased significantly from 5,5 tonnes per hectare to 6,5 tonnes per hectare.
"Last farming season we had on average 5,5 tonnes per hectare and this time have more than 6,5 tonnes per hectare," Cde Karimanzira said.
He said the hectares that came under farming this last season increased significantly compared to the previous year, as more people demanded land for farming.
"We have reduced the number of hectares to be given to an individual from two hectares to one hectare so that everyone gets a piece of land," Cde Karimanzira said.
"Farming is not restricted to rural people only. We are saying where there is land people should grow something even at their backyards."
The governor said more than 12 000 hectares of land came under urban farming last year, an increase of 3 000 hectares from 9 000 the previous year.
He commended the city of Harare for giving land to urban farmers saying the move contributed significantly to the land reform programme.
"Land reform should not only end in the rural areas but also come to the urban areas because we have open spaces in the province and we thank the city fathers for allowing our farmers to grow their crops."
Cde Karimanzira, however, warned the farmers against farming close to the riverbanks.
Farmers who excelled at the dry show walked away with prizes and would be given a chance to showcase their produce at the Harare Agricultural Show this year.
Labels: DAVID KARIMANZIRA, HARARE, URBAN FARMING
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Urban farmers start planting
Agriculture Reporter
Harare’s urban farmers have started planting summer crops following the onset of the rains. Over the weekend, many families were either planting or clearing land in preparation for planting.
Most parts of Harare received rains at the weekend while in most parts of the country the rains started falling last week. Yesterday, some farmers were working in the rain to plant maize.
Mr Simbarashe Mnangagwa of Gleneagles said he was lagging behind with land preparations and so he had to work in the rain.
"It is always good to do things at the right time and this extends to farming," he said.
Many farmers were beginning to have fears that the season was already lost due to the delay in the rains.
Department of Meteorological Services head of forecasting Mr Tich Zinyemba last week said most parts of the country had received rains.
He said the falls were generally light.
"Notwithstanding, there have been some significant falls across the country. The situation as of now indicates that the rainfall situation should continue improving in all provinces of the country," he said.
Farmers have been encouraged to liaise with Agritex officials to best use the precipitation they get depending on soils and their agro-ecological regions.
Mr Zinyemba advised farmers with irrigation facilities not to wait for the rains as the climate was conducive for planting.
Urban farming plays a pivotal role in promoting food security, nutrition and improving household economies.
Labels: HARARE, URBAN FARMING
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