Story by John Nhandara
THE Agro-ecology conference has kicked off in Harare, with stakeholders in the agricultural sector deliberating on sustainable agricultural practices in the wake of climate change.
Farmers and stakeholders in the agricultural sector drawn from at least six countries that include Zimbabwe, Zambia, Eswathini, Kenya and South Africa are meeting in Harare to deliberate on climate resilient agricultural practices in the wake of climate change and the devastating effects of El Nino.
“It’s a regional conference sharing experience on agro ecology and basically climate smart agriculture how it helps people to be food secure in a region that is vulnerable to climate change.it looks at practices that small holder farmers can take to increase the yield,” said UK Deputy Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Dr Jo Abbot.
“We are faced with a lot of drought in the Southern region and we feel agro ecology offers a solution to these problems we are facing,” noted Fambidzanai Pemaculture Centre Director, Mr Kudzanai Mashingaidze.
The major take aways from the conference were mainly to do with conservation farming, permaculture and organic farming, among other farming methods.
“We have scientist farmers and private sector talking about how agro ecology will transform our food systems and become more resilient and more equitable. We need to improve the quality of our soils since they are degraded so we must continue feeding soils, practice agro forestry through mulching and conservative agriculture also biodiversity and diversification of crops, said Head of Resilience Livelihoods – VSO, Ruchi Tripathi.
Bontle Bahao Permaculture Design Director, Ms Linda Gabriel weighed in, “We are also looking into ecosystem and in particular permaculture and its relevance in sustainable agronomical practices.”
Deliberations from the conference will also result in the crafting of a regional agro ecology strategy which will guide coordinated efforts in research priorities and policy recommendations for participating countries.
