Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) has appealed to government and all those who provide farmers with agricultural inputs to timely and impartially distribute them before the rainy season.
By Audrey Mutasa
In their Pastoral letter, the Roman Catholic Church also recommended that the government should communicate the prices of farm commodities to allow farmers to make their choices on the crops they want to plant this season.
The church said: “Since most rural households rely on agriculture to secure their livelihoods, they spend more than half a year working on the land [and] government should be supportive by paying them fairly so as to avoid prejudice.”
Poverty, hunger and food insecurity has stood to be the major threat to the lives of many Zimbabweans, which might lead to loss of lives in the coming year.
It has been discovered that approximately 1,5 million Zimbabweans of rural households may not be able to meet their food needs during the 2015/2016 hunger season.
The Pastoral letter also pointed out that “most of the rural households are finding it difficult to purchase food at the market, even if available. The orphaned, elderly, unemployed, HIV infected and affected, female and child-headed households and other vulnerable groups are getting poorer due to food scarcity.”
Linking hunger to climate change, the church advised policy makers and implementers to move from rhetoric to practical action by financing and implementing existing regional and international policies to protect the environment and improve food security.
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Pope Francis wrote in the letter that, “Climate change is real and is getting worse; human beings are a major contributor to climate change; climate change disproportionately affects the poor. We can and must make things better; and individuals can help, but politicians must take the lead”.
The ZCBC has appealed to the government to invest more in improved irrigation and water harvesting systems to address the current water poverty.
They further requested the government to develop and adopt appropriate climate smart and ecological agriculture techniques.
