HARARE (Zimbabwe Investor) - The European Union has provided US$13 million to help fight poverty, improve agricultural productivity and to reduce the dependence of vulnerable rural communal households on humanitarian assistance.

The agreement was signed with the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) to promote conservation agriculture and coordinate agricultural activities in Zimbabwe.

According to Pierre-Luc Vanhaeverbeke, Food Security Coordinator for the European Union Delegation in Harare, FAO will coordinate the programmes in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, other government ministries, multiple NGO partners, farmers unions, donors, UN agencies, national and international research institutes.

According to FAO, conservation agriculture is an agricultural practice that has the potential to significantly increase yields and productivity of farmers, especially smallholder farmers. Conservation farming, says FAO, holds tremendous potential for all sizes of farms and agro-ecological systems.

Currently over 80,000 communal households are being assisted in conservation agriculture, receiving inputs, training and extension services. Others are adopting it without receiving any input assistance, since they have noticed the dramatic improvement in productivity under conservation agriculture.

FAO adds that the activities supported under the EU facility include promotion of conservation agriculture at all policy levels through training and capacity building for farmers, extension workers and NGO staff, provision of inputs for lead farmers, field demonstrations and coordination of conservation agriculture interventions.

The project has a component on coordination of agricultural activities within the humanitarian framework. FAO will work in partnership with government and NGOs to ensure the most appropriate agricultural support is delivered efficiently, minimizing overlapping and increasing coverage. 

Mr Ngoni Masoka, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development in Zimbabwe says that the programme's efforts will positively impact on household and national food security.

Xavier Marchal, Head of EU delegation in Zimbabwe says that the EU feels that the stabilisation and eventual rehabilitation of the agricultural sector in Zimbabwe is crucial to its economic revival.

Since 2002 the EU has been actively involved in financing projects that aim to boost agricultural production and ensure food security in Zimbabwe. The current donation brings the total EU contribution to the development of agriculture since then to US$170 million.