More yield, less field

This year Zimbabwe has had a bumper crop of the staple food, maize. It is only the second time in two decades that it has grown enough food for the whole population. Last year they barely had half of what was needed and 7.7 million people went hungry.

Better rainfall is largely to thank, but a new farming technique, called Pfumvudza is also being celebrated as having a dramatic impact on the amount Zimbabwe’s smallholder farmers have produced, increasing their yields up to four times. Advocates say it holds the key to food security and makes farmers more resilient to the realities of climate change - hotter, drier, stormier weather, which makes farming even harder.

Dr Matthew Mbanga is CEO of the organisation which designed Pfumvudza. He explains the “more yield, less field” principle, which encourages farmers to more intensively cultivate a smaller area of land. They dig basins instead of ploughing rows and produce their own organic fertiliser. Dr Mbanga argues that Pfumvudza must be a central part of Zimbabwe’s climate change response because it helps farms cope better in the hotter, drier, stormier weather.

Image: Consilia Chianako, a trainer at Foundations for Farming, demonstrates how to dig holes into 'mulch' cover (Credit: Charlotte Ashton)