HARARE, 26 January 2010 (IRIN) – Garai Hokonya, 53, a smallholder farmer in Chivhu district, about 120km southwest of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, has resigned himself to the unpalatable truth that the 12 hectares of maize he planted by hand are being devastated by an unseasonal and prolonged dry spell.
-I have written off the crop and am driving the cattle and goats to graze in the fields, Hokonya told IRIN. -This is painful, because my family used zero tillage [no ploughing] to prepare part of the land due to a shortage of draught-power, he said.
The latest weather hazards assessment for Africa by USAID/Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) indicated that Zimbabwe was among several other southern African countries experiencing poor rainfall.
-Since December, below-average precipitation and above-average temperatures continue to help strengthen seasonal moisture deficits across central Mozambique, southern Malawi, southern Madagascar and southern Zimbabwe, FEWS NET said in its assessment.
