Zimbabwe’s Six-Pillar Super El Niño Strategy: What Farmers Need To Know
The word “El Niño” has been hanging over Zimbabwean farmers like a storm cloud that refuses to break. In Murehwa, Agritex officers are already moving ward to ward, urging farmers to rethink their cropping plans for the 2026/27 season. The message from Harare is blunt: the rains will not be kind, but the country intends to stay food secure.
This week, Government outlined a six-pillar national response to the forecast Super El Niño and convened an indaba in Harare bringing together more than 100 agricultural directors from across Zimbabwe, head office officials, farmers’ unions, and private sector players.
The strategy, led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development, is designed to protect food security and livestock, strengthen the Strategic Grain Reserve, and ensure that climate-smart farming is not just a slogan, but a set of practical steps that reach every ward and village.
What Is Government’s Super El Niño Plan?
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Professor Obert Jiri, said the six-pillar plan is being “mainstreamed across the country” so that it does not remain a document in Harare but turns into concrete action at district and farm level.
“We have come up with a six-pillar plan to ensure that the country mitigates the impact of the Super El Niño. The plan includes maintaining strategic grain reserves starting at household level to national level, climate-proof agriculture, financing models and growing the right grain in the right region. The last pillar deals with communication; people need to know what we are doing and how,” he said.
The Southern African Regional Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF-33) has forecast below-normal rainfall for much of the region, including Zimbabwe, during the 2026/27 summer season. Local meteorological experts have confirmed that the country faces a largely dry, hotter season, with serious implications for maize, livestock, and water availability.
The six pillars, as outlined by Government officials, focus on:
- Strengthening the Strategic Grain Reserve, starting from household granaries.
- Scaling up climate-smart agriculture and climate-proof practices.
- Expanding and targeting agricultural financing.
- Protecting livestock through feed, water, and destocking plans.
- Facilitating strategic food imports where necessary.
- Reinforcing coordination, early warning systems and communication.
FFA Explainer:
Super El Niño refers to a particularly strong El Niño event in the Pacific Ocean that disrupts weather patterns globally. In Southern Africa, it is often linked with below-normal rainfall and high temperatures. For rain-fed agriculture, this can mean late onset of rains, long dry spells, poor pastures, and pressure on dams and boreholes.
For Zimbabwe, where agriculture underpins rural livelihoods and feeds into the ambitions of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) and AU Agenda 2063, this is more than a weather bulletin. It is a test of resilience and planning.
How Will Irrigation And Water Be Used This Season?
One of the most striking shifts in Government’s messaging is the clear directive to match crops to regions and to water, rather than hope that every field will get enough rain.
Chief Director for Water Resources, Irrigation Development and National WASH Coordination, Engineer Tinayeshe Mutazu, said Zimbabwe’s existing irrigation potential must be used more intelligently rather than simply expanded on paper.
“We are targeting a total of 85 000 hectares of cereal. We currently have 350 000 hectares of irrigable land. We are saying the maize should be grown in the right region, which is Regions 1 and 2 only. So our agro-ecological tailoring becomes very key because it is not really about expanding the irrigable hectarage but concentrating the water that we have, so we will be food secure,” he explained.
This approach – putting maize under irrigation and in higher rainfall regions, while steering drier areas towards hardier crops – is at the heart of the six-pillar response.
FFA Explainer:
Agro-ecological tailoring means planning crops and livestock according to the natural conditions of each area – rainfall patterns, soil type, temperature, and water sources. Instead of planting maize everywhere, for example, farmers in drier regions may be encouraged to focus on sorghum, millet, and livestock, while wetter areas concentrate on maize and soya bean.
In practical terms, this will require tight coordination between the Ministry, Agritex officers, irrigation schemes, and local authorities. And it will demand discipline: following planting windows, sticking to recommended crops, and managing limited water carefully.
What Should Farmers Plant Under Super El Niño Conditions?
For smallholders in Mberengwa, Zaka, Gokwe North, and Tsholotsho, the key question is simple: what should go into the ground when the first rains come?
Director for Crops Production, Agricultural Development and Advisory Services, Mrs Kundai Mukuku, offered clear guidance tailored to the forecast dry season.
“So this season we are saying because of limited rains, let us target the short season varieties so that we take advantage of the short season. We are also saying let us go for traditional grains as they are more resilient than maize and for the maize let us go for the ultra-short season varieties. Even in the high rainfall areas, we are encouraging farmers to go for the ultra-short season varieties unless you have irrigation,” she said.
Her message matches what many extension officers have already started telling farmers: do not treat this season like an ordinary one. For communal farmers, that means:
- Prioritising small grains – sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet – especially in Natural Regions III, IV, and V.
- Choosing short-season and ultra-short season maize varieties, and only where rainfall or irrigation justifies it.
- Planting with the first effective rains, using techniques such as potholing, mulching, and conservation agriculture where appropriate.
- Planning for household grain reserves – storing well-dried, treated grain safely to carry families through possible lean months.
For farmers with access to irrigation in areas like Chiredzi, Middle Sabi, and Nyanyadzi, the strategy opens room for more aggressive planning of cereals and cash crops, as long as water use is rationed and carefully scheduled.
How Does This Fit Into Zimbabwe’s Food Security Goals?
The six-pillar strategy is not only a drought response; it also ties into Zimbabwe’s effort to maintain food self-sufficiency under NDS1 and contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 2 on zero hunger.
Prof Jiri said the pillars cover food security, agricultural production, financing models, livestock protection, grain imports, early warning systems, and coordination across Government and with non-state actors.
The approach recognises that while some grain may need to be imported, particularly maize, the backbone of national food security must still be Zimbabwean farmers – both large-scale and smallholder.
Village Business Units (VBUs) are one of the tools Government is emphasising. These are localised irrigation and agribusiness hubs, often driven by boreholes and reliable power, that can anchor food production at village level even when the rains underperform.
Officials argue that where VBUs are functional – such as in parts of Mwenezi, Insiza, and Guruve – they can stabilise household food supplies, create local markets, and support youth and women in agribusiness ventures.
FFA Explainer:
Village Business Units are small, community-level irrigation and agribusiness centres, usually powered by solar or grid electricity and drawing on groundwater. They often include a borehole, storage, small plots for horticulture or cereals, and facilities for value addition like milling or oil pressing. The idea is to create income and food security locally, not only at national level.
For women and young people, VBUs can offer more than subsistence, allowing them to run horticulture enterprises, poultry projects, and small-scale processing even in a bad rainfall year.
What Happened At The Harare Super El Niño Indaba?
While the six pillars give the overall direction, the Harare indaba was about implementation – who does what, by when, and with which resources.
The meeting, attended by more than 100 Government directors from districts across the country, head office officials, farmers’ unions, and private sector players, was convened to review Zimbabwe’s preparedness for the Super El Niño and the 2026/27 summer cropping season.
Prof Jiri told delegates that the SARCOF-33 outlook and local meteorological analysis had forced the country to confront difficult truths about the coming season.
“Now that, after the SADC has met under SARCOF-33 and our own people from MET have also met and deciphered the SARCOF-33 report in terms of the El Niño, and we now understand that Zimbabwe will receive below-normal rainfall largely, we know that it will be difficult to produce our crops and to, of course, keep our livestock for that long,” he said.
Rather than wait until crops fail and dams dry up, the indaba focused on planning early: aligning input distribution to agro-ecological zones, sharpening early warning systems, and clarifying how different arms of Government will coordinate with farmers’ unions and agribusinesses.
Discussions covered:
- Ensuring that information about the six pillars reaches districts and wards, not just provincial offices.
- Identifying gaps in preparedness – from water storage to feed reserves.
- Defining roles and responsibilities for agencies and organisations during the season.
- Agreeing on priority actions before planting, during the growing season, and in case of crop failure.
The meeting underlined a central lesson from past droughts: a national plan only works if it is understood and applied where the decisions are made – in the field, in the dip tank committee, at the irrigation scheduling meeting.
What Does This Mean For A Farmer In Masvingo?
On a small plot outside Chivi Growth Point in Masvingo Province, a farmer like 52-year-old “Mai Rudo” faces a familiar dilemma: trust the sky and plant maize as usual, or follow the advice to switch to sorghum and millet.
Her area falls largely in Natural Region IV. In recent years, rainfall has come late and stopped early. Yet maize, with its tall green stalks, still carries the promise of a good year. The Government’s six-pillar strategy, and the guidance from Mrs Mukuku, offers a different promise: smaller cobs, perhaps, but more certainty of something to harvest.
If she decides to follow the official advice, her plan might look like this:
- Reserve most of her dryland field for sorghum and pearl millet.
- Use a small portion near a wetland or shallow well for ultra-short season maize, only if she can water it during dry spells.
- Join a nearby Village Business Unit scheme, if available, for irrigated vegetables to sell at Chivi and Ngundu markets.
- Keep a portion of her harvest aside specifically for a household grain reserve, instead of selling everything immediately.
That kind of household-level planning is exactly what the six pillars are trying to unlock. If thousands of families in Masvingo, Matabeleland South, Midlands, and the rest of the country make similar shifts, the national picture begins to look less fragile.
How Can Farmers And Officials Work Together?
The Super El Niño forecast does not only demand action from central Government. It calls for collaboration across levels: from Cabinet to council, from Agritex officer to lead farmer, from union leaders to input suppliers.
The Harare indaba highlighted that the response must be “whole-of-sector”, bringing in farmers’ unions, private input suppliers, millers, and financiers. For smallholders, this will be felt through:
- Clear, timely advice from local agricultural extension officers.
- Availability of appropriate seed varieties – especially small grains and ultra-short season maize.
- Support to keep livestock alive through water point management and feed options.
- Access to information through radio, community meetings, and mobile platforms.
Zimbabwe has weathered droughts before, and lessons from those seasons – such as the value of small grains, early planning, and strong local institutions – are now being woven into the Super El Niño plan.
As the first thunderclouds of the 2026/27 season gather over Nyanga and Mutare, the test will be simple. Do farmers like Mai Rudo feel informed, supported, and equipped to adapt? Or does the six-pillar strategy remain something they only hear about on the radio?
“This is why we emphasise agro-ecological tailoring,” Prof Jiri told participants at the indaba. The next few months will show whether that tailoring has been cut to fit the real bodies in the real fields – the smallholders whose decisions, crop by crop and herd by herd, will determine whether Zimbabwe rides out the Super El Niño with its food security intact.
?? Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel to Get Our Updates On Your Mobile
About The Author
