By Dalphine Tagwireyi
With a severe drought looming in Zimbabwe, the country’s farmers are now also facing fertiliser shortages.
Farmers say they are worried as the shortage has affected their crops and will hamper their yield. The country’s only fertiliser supplier is facing production issues.
Speaking to Scrolla.Africa maize farmer Gift Machando from Chirumanzu in the Midlands province said he fears that his crop will fail due to the shortage of fertiliser in the market.
“We are now on the verge of losing over 10 hectares of crops due to the shortages which has in turn resulted in the escalation of prices,” he said.
“As rural farmers, we can’t afford the current fertiliser prices so we are appealing to the government to help us through their programmes because the situation is now serious.”
About half of Zimbabwe’s 15.6 million inhabitants live in extreme poverty, according to the international humanitarian organisation, CARE. Food insecurity is widespread, affecting more than 5.8-million people.
But it isn’t only the drought that is challenging farmers. Cleopatra Chipere, a subsistence farmer from Karoi, Mashonaland West, said the heavy rains are affecting their crops which are now turning yellow because they don’t have enough fertiliser.
“We are appealing for the government to chip in with fertilisers through presidential input programmes so that we may feed our crops for a better yield,” she said.
The fertiliser is currently retailing at R1,020 ($60) per 50 kg bag which is beyond the reach of many local producers. Sable Chemicals is failing to meet demand due to production issues.
Lands and Agriculture minister Anxious Masuka said that the government is hurrying up importation of fertilisers and they are expecting more delivery within five days.
“We are expecting over 75,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser as we have already received over 40,000 metric tonnes and we need to hurry the additional fertiliser required,” he said.
Agronomist Mary Mudumi said that farmers need to employ organic means to be able to save their crops and as an alternative to the absence of ammonium nitrate fertiliser.
Pictured above: A farmer in a maize field with wilted crops
Image source: Maltida Moyo
