Seed banks help Zimbabwe’s farmers tackle climate change
“Seed security is food security” is something of a mantra in developing world agronomy circles. In Zimbabwe, the adage is gradually being put into action by promoting the use of indigenous small grains threatened with extinction by the dominance of maize, both in fields and on dinner tables.
This dominance has left indigenous small seeds such as millet, cowpeas and sorghum as bit players in Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector, despite their greater resilience to weather shocks such as drought, which are occurring with increasing frequency and severity in Zimbabwe because of the effects of climate change.
Such small seeds also tend to require fewer of the expensive inputs required by commercial hybrid maize.
John Misi, the administrator of Mudzi District, in Mashonaland East Province, explained that getting farmers to use small grains “has been a challenge as maize is our staple food, and as such people are used to planting maize in this community.”
http://www.irinnews.org/analysis/2017/11/07/seed-banks-help-zimbabwe-s-farmers-tackle-climate-change
Sally Nyakanyaga