Zimbabwe, one of the growing countries in Southern Africa, is known for its diverse agricultural landscape. The economy, employment, and food security of Zimbabwe mainly depend on the agricultural sector of the country. It farms key crops, such as maize, tobacco, and cotton, alongside livestock farming. However, there are many challenges in Zimbabwe’s agriculture sector, such as climate change and limited technology. To address this, Zimbabwe’s Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plan (CSAIP) was initiated. 

The CSAIP promotes better solutions, including resource management, technology, and policy support. By managing public and private investments, CSAIP aims to enhance productivity, food security, and resilience, thereby transforming Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector into a globally competitive one. This article provides an overview of Zimbabwe’s agriculture, Climate-Smart Agriculture, and a review of key planning documents that address CSA objectives in Zimbabwe. 

Overview of Zimbabwe’s Agriculture

What is Climate Smart Agriculture? 

Review of Key Planning Documents Addressing CSA Objectives in Zimbabwe

The Comprehensive Agricultural Policy Framework (2012). 

The National Agricultural Policy Framework (2018) 

The Zimbabwe Agricultural Investment Plan (2013) 

The Transitional Stabilization Program (TSP) (2018) 

Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (2013) 

Zimbabwe Climate Policy (2017) 

Zimbabwe’s Third National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2016) 

Climate-Smart Agriculture Manual for Zimbabwe (2017) 

Climate Smart Agriculture Profile for Zimbabwe (2017)

Climate Smart Agriculture Framework (2018) 

Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee Rural Livelihoods Assessment Report (2018)

Agriculture is a major key for Zimbabwe’s economy, contributing 15-20% of GDP and employing over 60% of the population. The sector ensures food security, supports livelihoods and strengthens the economy. Zimbabwe is growing a variety of crops, with tobacco being the top export, followed by sugar, cotton, and other products. The government provides various programs, such as the “Command Agriculture” program, designed to help boost maize production and improve food security. Industries such as food and beverage production add value to raw materials and create jobs. As Zimbabwe farming evolves with advanced technology, investment opportunities continue to grow. With strong support, agriculture remains a key pillar of Zimbabwe’s economy and development. 

CSA (Climate-smart agriculture) improves farming while addressing solutions to climate change. It ensures food security and supports development despite many challenges and high food demand. CSA focus on three key areas:

• Better Productivity: Growing more food substantially.
• Building Resilience: Helping farmers fight climate change.
• Lowering Greenhouse Gases: Lowering emissions to stop global warming.

CSA requires careful planning and research. While the concept is new, the outcome was positive. The successful use of CSA depends on observing current methods and securing financial support. 

You can find more about Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector, including sources of risk, capacity to manage agricultural risk, and risk management strategies here, Zimbabwe: Overview of Agriculture Sector Disaster Risk Assessment

1. The Comprehensive Agricultural Policy Framework (2012)

The Comprehensive Agricultural Policy Framework offers a thorough observation and analysis of the agricultural sector. It signifies the visions, goals, objectives, etc. and better policies and strategies for Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector and industries during the period 2012-2032, respectively. The main objectives of this are:

2. Guarantee household and national food security.
3. Ensure the existing amount of agricultural resources is well preserved and improved.
4. Increase the country’s contribution to GDP from the agricultural sector.
5. Contribute to better industrial development through modern techniques and the supply of home-grown raw agricultural materials.
6. Produce income, employment and livelihood to the ideal levels.
7. Expand the sector’s contributions to the economy and national balance of payments through the agricultural sector. 
8. The National Agricultural Policy Framework (2018)

The National Agricultural Policy Framework (NAPF) of 2018 was issued by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement in November 2018. This document updates the previous 1994 policy foundation, with a goal to “provide policy guidance and direction on how to promote and support the sustainable flow of investments to transform the agricultural sector through increased and sustained agricultural production, productivity and competitiveness” (GoZ 2018b). It covers the period from 2019 to 2030. The main focus of this document is to enhance productivity. Besides productivity, resilience, immigration, and CSA are among the crucial objectives discussed.

3. The Zimbabwe Agricultural Investment Plan (2013) 

The Zimbabwe Agricultural Investment Plan (ZAIP) was started in 2013 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development. The document provides the most complete and up-to-date investment plan by the Government of Zimbabwe for the agricultural sector during the period 2013-2017. The main goal of the ZAIP is: “to facilitate a sustainable increase in production, productivity and competitiveness of Zimbabwe agriculture through building the capacity of farmers and institutions, improving the quality and quantity of public, private and development partner investment and policy alignment.”  The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) technical review of the ZAIP recommends that the actions taken for climate change under ZAIP should be spread across to include biodiversity and wetland management problems (CAADP 2018). A new, better ZAIP is currently being formed over the coming years. 

4. The Transitional Stabilization Program (TSP) (2018)

The Transitional Stabilization Program (TSP) was scheduled to be started between October 2018 and December 2020, and gives importance to budgetary consolidation, a stable economy, growth of the economy and creation of jobs and employment. The TSP aims to consolidate the gains made under the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimASSET). They seek to address ‘macroeconomic fundamentals that harm Smart Agriculture, which includes modernization of irrigation.’ The TSP was developed against the backdrop of the country’s intention to implement national development policies, initiatives, and programs to achieve Vision 2030, which aims to create a successful and empowering upper-middle-class income society by 2030, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the AU Agenda 2063. 

To this end, the TSP develops policies, plans, and projects that guide Zimbabwe’s economic development, target immediate wins, and establish a robust base for economic growth over the period from 2021 to 2030. It is expected that the economic growth will be driven mainly by the Private sector, with the government establishing a supportive macroeconomic and business environment. The focus of the TSP will be on value addition and beneficiation to achieve higher value exports and protect the economy from the harm of international import price fluctuations that are related to over-dependence on the export of raw commodities.

The TSP supports the development of agriculture in various areas. Among them, some are given below:

• Input Vacancy.
• Farm Automation.
• Drying and Harvesting Status.
• Improved equipment.
• Local Manufacturing of products.
• Access to different Harvesting services.
• High Demand Automation.
• Productive farms and better Yields
• Irrigation Support Program. 

5. Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (2013) 

The ZimAsset of 2013 offers a distinguished plan to achieve better development and fight back climate change by addressing the need for different socio-economic transformation in four key points. They are:

1. Security of Food and Nutrition.
2. Lower rate of Poverty and better Social Services
3. Better Infrastructure and utilities.
4. Value addition and beneficiation.

All government ministries and initiatives fall under various clusters, primarily these. The ZimASSET recognised the need to respond to climate change with strong solutions. For example, the Food Security and Nutrition Cluster aims to strengthen climate and disaster management policies and techniques, promote drought-resistant crops, crop diversity, and high-yielding and heat-tolerant crops, as well as promote renewable energy.

6. Zimbabwe Climate Policy (2017) 

The Zimbabwe Climate Policy of 2017 focuses on directing policy toward “a climate resilient and low carbon Zimbabwe” as the vision. This policy document revolves around four areas, which mark the focus and direction of policy 

1. Weather, Climate Modelling and Change 
2. Vulnerability and Adaptation 
3. Mitigation and Low-Carbon Development 
4. Enablers/Cross-Cutting Issues 

7. Zimbabwe’s Third National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2016) 

Zimbabwe’s Third National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change of 2016 provides a new, informative summary on climate change issues in Zimbabwe. This document outlines the planning for Zimbabwe’s current greenhouse gas emissions, including the Business As-Usual emissions projection, as well as mitigation goals and potential growth across various sectors.

8. Climate-Smart Agriculture Manual for Zimbabwe (2017) 

The Climate-Smart Agriculture Manual for Zimbabwe, published in 2017, was developed by the United Nations Environment Programme in partnership with the Government of Zimbabwe and the Climate Technology Centre and Network. This document provides a detailed description of various CSA practices and their significance for farmers within the agricultural context in Zimbabwe, outlining a strategy for educating those who are involved in the Zimbabwean agricultural sector about CSA practices. The document covers the following topics:

1. Enabling Environments: Talking about policy engagement, climate information systems, weather-based insurance, and gender and social inclusion, etc.
2. Systematic approaches: Lists landscape management developed to achieve CSA goals.
3. Practices: Discusses the approach to address CSA’s choices related to soil, water, crop production, livestock and land management, agroforestry, fisheries, aquaculture, and energy management. 

9. Climate Smart Agriculture Profile for Zimbabwe (2017)  

The Climate-Smart Agriculture Profile for Zimbabwe of 2017 was developed by the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture. The document refines various CSA practices into a comprehensive and easy-to-understand layout, marking the main challenges faced by Zimbabwe and the most effective practices by crop and region. Smartness scores are assigned to various CSA practices under consideration to provide a solid measure of each CS practice. This assesses various CSA categories, including yield, income, water, soil, risk and information, energy, carbon footprint, and nutrition. 

10. Climate Smart Agriculture Framework (2018) 

The Climate Smart Agriculture Framework of 2017 was authored by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate, and Rural Resettlement. It focuses on the government’s efforts to develop solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change through policy, education, and finance. This foundation supports the establishment of a CSA unit within the government to deploy sustainable funding and advance technology.

11. Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee Rural Livelihoods Assessment Report (2018) 

The Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) of the 2018 Rural Livelihoods Assessment Report was arranged by the  Food and Nutrition Council. It provides information on food and nutritional access in rural areas. Varieties of household-level surveys give key information, including food consumption patterns, community livelihood challenges and development priorities, shocks and hazards of rural life, and types of resilience to those shocks and hazards. 

Each of these documents addresses some goals of CSA in different forms, in addition to providing the perspective of the Government of Zimbabwe within the agricultural sector.

Zimbabwe’s agriculture sector is key to the economy, providing employment, food security, and export earnings. However, the increasing threats of climate change, limited resources, and old farming techniques need a transformation. The Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plan (CSAIP) is initiated as a strategic response, using modern technologies and best practices to enhance productivity and resilience. By aligning with national policies and international goals, CSAIP provides a clear path for investment in the agricultural sector. Strengthening this sector through innovation and collaboration will ensure long-term economic growth, food security and a better environment for Zimbabwe.

To know more about Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector’s risk management strategy, you can read, Zimbabwe’s Risk Management Strategy: Agricultural Sector Disaster Risk Assessment.