Food & Climate
After centuries of relying on water-guzzling white corn in Zimbabwe, some have begun to shift to growing chilies.
Water-guzzling white corn has been the staple crop of choice for rural farmers in Zimbabwe since its introduction to much of sub-Saharan Africa by the Portuguese in the 17th century. But with the threat of drought some turn to chilies and techniques for growing them, according a report seen by “Food & Climate” platform.
In Zimbabwe, around 7.7 million people — almost half the country’s population — require food assistance, according to government and U.N. figures. Frequent droughts are decimating people’s ability to feed themselves, a phenomenon worsened by climate change.
From corn to growing chilies
Gertrude Siduna appears to have little appetite for corn farming season. Rather than prepare her land in Zimbabwe’s arid southeastern Chipinge district for the crop that has fed her family for generations — and bitter about repeated droughts that have decimated yields — she turns her thoughts to the prices for chilies and techniques for growing them, according to “Voice of America“.
“I pick my chilies from the fields and take them to the processing center close to my home. It’s simple,” said Siduna, 49. She’s received about $400 from the drought-resistant crop and plans to grow more. “Chilies are far better than corn.”
Siduna has been growing chilies for a year since being trained under a climate-smart agriculture program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The program was designed to strengthen small-scale farmers’ resilience to climate change-induced droughts, many requiring food assistance from the government or international donors.
But as climate change worsens droughts and floods worldwide, government agencies and local operators have found that aid efforts can still be made more effective and financially sustainable.
A drought threat
With the threat of drought, some, like Siduna, now think it may be better to buy the staple than grow it.
“I don’t lack corn meal. I just use my earnings from chilies to buy it from the local shops,” she said.
Unlike corn or other crops that she has typically grown, chilies do well in the hotter, drier conditions. And, because they end up in stores in the United States, they offer cash rewards.
“You have to continuously pray for the rain if you grow corn,” said the mother of three. “The crop just can’t stand heat. But chilies can. One is assured of a harvest, and the market is readily available.”
Other crops such as millets, which are cereals tolerant of poor soils, drought and harsh growing conditions, are also gaining traction under climate resilience programs.
In Chiredzi, southeast Zimbabwe, Kenias Chikamhi, 54, describes growing corn as “a gamble … whereas with millets you have a good chance of at least getting something.” Millet was the country’s staple before the introduction of maize.
But not all the corn is gone yet. Zimbabwe’s agriculture ministry says it plans to increase land under maize to 1.8 million hectares (4.4 million acres) by using farming techniques such as digging holes into dry land and mulching to cover the growing crops as well as by planting drought-resilient varieties that can better cope with the lack of rain.
The country harvested about 700,000 tons of corn this year, 70% down from the season before and far short of the 2 million tons required annually for humans and livestock.
Another of USAID’s initiatives has seen a community garden in Mutandahwe village, where Siduna lives, irrigated by three small solar panels.
Solar-powered community gardens have been spreading across the district and much of the country’s dry areas.
“We were struggling walking long distances to fetch water from rivers, and right now the rivers are dry,” said Muchaneta Mutowa, secretary of the plot. The plot is shared by 60 members, all growing vegetables they can eat and sell.
“We now have easy access to reliable water that flows from the taps [and] we don’t pay for the sun,” she said. And money from the sale of vegetables goes a long way to pay for family basics such as school fees.