For thousands of rural families in Zimbabwe, the threat of El Niño is a warning that another season of drought could put food and livelihoods at risk.

In Chiredzi, solar-powered irrigation, climate information and climate-smart farming are helping communities prepare for increasingly unpredictable weather.

Chiredzi is one of Zimbabwe’s drought-prone areas, where unreliable rainfall has made farming increasingly difficult.

Programme Policy Officer for the United Nations (UN) World Food Program, Munyaradzi Gaadzikwa, says communities are now turning to sustainable solutions to strengthen food security and livelihoods.

“We created water source development assets, such as the solar powered pumps that you have seen over there. We’ve got three boreholes that were drilled here and they were mechanised. They are solar powered they are supporting these three hectare garden,” adds Gaadzikwa.

Gaadzikwa also shared that the World Food Programme is also providing communities with climate information, helping farmers adjust their activities based on weather forecasts.

“We are supporting these communities with improved access to climate information so that they understand the disaster which is going to strike and be able to prepare. We’ve got interventions such as Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture,” explains Gaadzikwa.

Vice Chairperson of Bandama Village Business Unit, Steven Chikukwa, stated that so far, 143 village business units have been established in the district, with farmers already seeing benefits beyond food production.

“This garden has helped a lot in terms of nutrition for our children. Even the school fees are no longer a challenge, even our sustenance is coming from this garden.”

For these communities, climate-smart farming is helping turn drought resilience into food, income and greater self-reliance.

–SABC–