Zimbabwean Farmers Plan Around El Niño With Fodder, Water Reserves

Rekopantsoe Nare produces 1,5 tonnes of urea-treated stover on her 5ha Reena Farm in Mbalabala, Matabeleland South, and she regards that home-grown feed as her real insurance against the El Niño forecast.

"As farmers we need to plan ahead and not let the El Niño fear grip us. Do not wait for disaster, plan ahead," Nare says.

Zimbabwe expects below-normal rainfall this season, and producers across Matabeleland South and the Midlands are adjusting feeding, water and cropping plans rather than cutting output. Their strategies offer a working checklist for any smallholder or commercial farmer facing a confirmed dry forecast.

Why does fodder come first?

Nare runs a mixed operation of pigs, cattle, goats, broilers and indigenous chickens, alongside tomatoes, cabbages and onions. She grows river tamarind trees, brachiaria grass, velvet beans, cowpeas, sunn hemp, juncao grass and mulberry trees, all of which she says lifts milk production in her female animals.

Nothing on the farm is wasted. After harvest she keeps maize, sorghum and sunflower stalks plus groundnut shells and leaves, grinds them, and treats the resulting stover with urea.

"When making urea-treated stover, make sure all ingredients are weighed," she explains. "Molasses, coarse salt and urea fertiliser are added proportionally to produce balanced feed."

The molasses matters for palatability as much as nutrition. "As long as molasses are added, the animals enjoy the taste. The stover sustains cattle and maintains their body score until the next season," she says.

What about water security?

Her second defence is storage. In 2023 she dug infiltration pits to catch run-off, and those pits are currently full. A nearby dam that holds water year-round and a borehole mean she does not plan to reduce production; if necessary, she will switch to crops that need less water.

"With expected little rain, farmers should consider planting drought-resistant crops such as cowpeas, sunflower and sorghum [to diversify their operations]," she advises.

How do you rebuild grazing after fire?

Ndumiso Sibanda, a Limousin farmer in Umzingwane, Matabeleland South, lost his cattle's grazing to a veld fire earlier this year. On his 100ha farm he is now stockpiling hay, stover and chicken litter.

"All our animals are currently penned and being given a mixture of hay, stover and chicken litter at a maintenance rate. We're constantly reviewing the amounts that we're giving them as we continue to monitor stock levels, as well as the weather forecast," says Sibanda.

He is expanding plantings of juncao grass under irrigation and will plant drought-tolerant fodder crops such as lablab and velvet beans once rain arrives. One borehole serves the farm today; he plans to drill another one or more to irrigate planted pastures and lift yields.

Paddock design, not just feed stocks, underpins his confidence. "We're not too worried with our current stocking rates. The size and number of our paddocks should allow enough rest periods during the growing season, however erratic it's expected to be," he says.

Destocking is off the table for now, and the reasoning is price-driven. "We're not yet intending to destock, since prices are likely to be depressed as people are worried about the expected tough season ahead," Sibanda says.

Can irrigation capacity beat the drought?

In the Midlands province, grain and vegetable farmer Clever Matutu of Gweru East holds the strongest water position of the three. His dam can irrigate 300ha and holds enough water to last five seasons, even with back-to-back droughts.

Matutu grows maize, soya beans, potatoes and cabbages on his 150ha property. "I would like to increase the area under maize production from 30ha to 70ha. However, land is a limitation," he says.

His constraint is cost, not water. Rising fuel and fertiliser prices have eroded profitability, and he has called on the government to consider input subsidies to lower production costs.

"If this is done, it will make raw materials produced by farmers cheaper, which will lead to more affordable end products for consumers," he says.

What should farmers watch next?

The pattern across all three farms is consistent: secure feed before the rains fail, store water wherever the topography allows, and match crop choice to the forecast rather than to habit. Farmers in dry forecast zones should watch the first effective planting rains, monitor stover and hay stock levels against herd numbers, and track whether any input subsidy response materialises before committing to expanded maize area.