BUHERA — The current rains have been a relief to many farmers around the country, but not for communal farmers in Buhera district.
BY TAWANDA MARWIZI
Several villagers have been left stranded and face severe food shortages after their crops last week were swept away by the heavy rains.
The rains left some of the fields with deep gullies and also swept away perimeter fences, making it easier for livestock and wild animals to feed on what had been left of the crops.
Villagers who spoke to Standardcommunity said they were facing another year of food crisis following the destruction of the crops. “The fields have been destroyed already, which is likely to be another year of hunger,” said one of the villagers, Mainos Zvakare.
“We have not been receiving such heavy rains for the past nine years and we have been on record having drought for all these years.”
Buhera is one of the semi-arid districts in the country which constantly experiences food shortages owing to poor rains. An agricultural extension officer, Robson Masaiti, also said the erosion caused by the rains was likely to result in another drought in the district.
“The rains are heavy and our soils are very poor that they can’t hold it, resulting in severe erosion in the fields,” said Masaiti. He blamed poor farming methods for the erosion.
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“People here do not care about the good methods of farming and this results in severe erosion in the event of heavy rains like this,” he said.
Last week, Agricultural Extension Services [Arex] officials were teaching some villagers in the district good farming methods to curtail massive erosion.
District administrator, Rolland Madondo said he was aware of the disaster that had rocked most parts of Buhera, adding that his office was in the process of finding ways to assist those affected. “We have been informed about the disaster that happened in the district and as I speak, we have since sent officials to assess the extent of the damage,” he said.
He added that it might be another difficult year for the district as they were likely to have food shortages.
