Climate change has become a fact of life in Southern Africa. In fact, with more frequent storms and other extreme weather conditions, it has become a fact of life in most parts of the world. In Zimbabwe, however, the impact has been severe as seen in the current famine.

For the most part, the reaction of Zimbabwean farmers has been to watch helplessly while the government moans. With erratic rains in the current season we are headed for another drought and the accompanying famine.

The World Food Program’s training of some Zimbabwean farmers back in 2016 is meanwhile is bearing fruit and showing us there is another way to combat these constant droughts and minimise their impact on food security.

In 2016 @WFP trained about 6000 smallholder farmers to grow drought tolerant crops in Rushinga district. While most farmers in #Zimbabwe have already lost their crop to the current drought, Everisto’s smallgrains crop has withstood the scorching ? heat. #ClimateChange pic.twitter.com/OWXm1721nL
— WFP Zimbabwe (@WFP_Zimbabwe) February 17, 2020

My name is Everisto Chirize, we started planting small grains in 2016, up to now we haven’t stopped. Small grains are highly nutritious and the help us achieve #ZeroHunger. pic.twitter.com/U8I9DXKaWV
— WFP Zimbabwe (@WFP_Zimbabwe) February 17, 2020