Rain season far from being over- Met Dept

The Meteorological Services Department of Zimbabwe (MSDZ) says the rainy season is not yet over.

The department predicts scattered showers in March.

However, according to some agricultural experts this is a little late to save wilting crops.

Apparently, a drought brought on by El Niño could reduce Zimbabwe’s maize production to 1.1 million tonnes in 2024, a precipitous drop from the projected 2.3 million tonnes harvested this year, Reuters reported, citing Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube.

Ncube, who was speaking on the sidelines of a World Bank briefing on Zimbabwe’s 2024 economic prospects in Harare, said the deficit threatens food security in poor households of the southern African nation.

With a population of about 16 million people, Zimbabwe requires about 1.8 million tonnes of the staple grain annually for human consumption.

World.Grain.com reports that farmers in Zimbabwe, where frequent droughts have compounded a lengthy economic crisis, have delayed planting maize amid high temperatures and dry conditions linked to El Niño.

Just 95,156 hectares of land had been put under summer crops, mainly grains, by December 10, a sharp decline from 465,707 hectares by the same time last year, Zimbabwe’s cabinet said on December 12.

The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) has said governments, donors and humanitarian organizations must prepare for high food assistance needs in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar throughout 2024 to early 2025 as El Niño disrupts agriculture.

Zwnews