Food aid interventions can curb climate change-induced hardship

Chipinge (Zimbabwe), Nov 14 (AP) Gertrude Siduna appears to have little appetite for corn farming season.
     Rather than prepare her land in Zimbabwe's arid southeastern Chipinge district for the crop that has fed her family for generations, the 49-year-old — bitter at repeated droughts that have decimated yields — turns her thoughts to the prices and farming techniques of chilies.
     “I pick my chilies from the fields and take them to the processing centre close to my home. It's simple," she said. She's received about USD 400 from the drought-resistant crop, and plans to grow some more. “Chilies are far better than corn.”
     Siduna has been growing chilies for a year since being trained under a climate-smart agriculture programme funded by the US Agency for International Development.
     The programme was designed to strengthen small-scale farmers' resilience to climate change-induced droughts, many requiring food assistance from the government or international donors. But as climate change worsens droughts and floods worldwide, government agencies and local operators have found that aid efforts can still be made more effective and financially sustainable.
     Experts say rich nations like the United States, which have been the biggest contributors of planet-warming emissions historically, have a responsibility to fund humanitarian aid in the countries that are experiencing its effects first and most severely.
     The US is the world's largest international donor of food aid, reaching over 60 million people in about 70 countries annually with direct contributions of food or via programs to help farmers adapt to extreme weather. USAID plans to mobilize USD 150 billion for climate-related initiatives, according to the agency's climate strategy report.
     In Zimbabwe, around 7.7 million people or almost half the country's population require food assistance, according to government and United Nations figures. Frequent droughts are decimating people's ability to feed themselves, a phenomenon worsened by climate change.
    
     Switching from corn to chilies and millets
     Water-guzzling white corn has been the staple crop of choice for rural farmers in Zimbabwe since its introduction to much of sub-Saharan Africa by the Portuguese in the 17th century.
     But with the threat of drought, some, like Siduna, now think it may be better to buy the staple than grow it.
     “I don't lack corn meal, I just use my earnings from chilies to buy it from the local shops,” she said.
     Unlike corn or other crops that she has typically grown, chilies do well in the hotter, drier conditions. And, because they end up in stores in the United States, they offer cash rewards.
     “You have to continuously pray for the rain if you grow corn," said the mother of three. “The crop just can't stand heat. But chilies can. One is assured of a harvest, and the market is readily available.”
     Other crops such as millets, a cereal tolerant of poor soils, drought and harsh growing conditions, are also gaining traction under climate resilience programs.
     In Chiredzi, southeast Zimbabwe, 54-year-old Kenias Chikamhi describes growing corn as “a gamble ... whereas with millets you have a good chance of at least getting something.” Millet was the country's staple before the introduction of maize.
     But not all the corn is gone yet. Zimbabwe's agriculture ministry says it plans to increase land under maize to 1.8 million hectares by using farming techniques such as digging holes into dry land and mulching to cover the growing crops as well as by planting drought resilient varieties that can better cope with the lack of rain.
     The country harvested about 700,000 tonnes of corn this year, 70 per cent down from the season before and far short of the 2 million tons required annually for humans and livestock.
    
     Solar-powered irrigation as rivers dry
     Farming techniques are also changing.
     Another of USAID's initiatives has seen a community garden in Mutandahwe village, where Siduna lives, irrigated by three small solar panels. The panels pump water from a borehole into storage tanks that are connected to the garden taps by pipes, turning the 1-hectare plot of vegetables like onions, leaf cabbage and cow peas into an island of lush green.
     Solar-powered community gardens have been spreading across the district and much of the country's dry areas. (AP)
    
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)