Zimbabwe has long struggled with poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition. One of our newest projects takes aim at all three of these challenges, with the help of two long-established nonprofits on the ground now fighting to give the people of Zimbabwe better lives.
This sub-Saharan African nation is currently dealing with a record drought, but malnutrition has long been a persistent and serious problem. “The nutrition situation for children and their mothers in Zimbabwe is of grave concern,” UNICEF said in a recent report. The United Nations children’s relief agency says 24% of children in Zimbabwe aged 5 and under are stunted. It believes that only 10% of children there receive what could be considered an adequate diet. Iron deficiency is far too common in Zimbabwe. That’s why Grow Further is proud to partner with folks at HarvestPlus, experts at biofortification, and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) on a new initiative to deliver iron-rich pearl millet to farmers and consumers throughout Zimbabwe.
Our largest grant to date
Several weeks ago, Grow Further announced a milestone in our mission to build a more food-secure future.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors and members, Grow Further is disbursing $211,000 to fund an initiative in Zimbabwe to help smallholder farmers there. We’re partnering with ICRISAT and HarvestPlus to develop nutrition-fortified versions of pearl millet to deliver to smallholder farmers across the country. ICRISAT and HarvestPlus had the vision and know-how; all that was lacking was the money to make it happen. Grow Further is now proud to work with them to see their work come to fruition.
Grow Further recently checked in with Dr. Henry Fred Ojulong, ICRISAT Senior Scientist, to see how things are progressing. It’s still very early days, but Dr. Ojulong confirmed that their work is proceeding smoothly and on schedule. ICRISAT and HarvestPlus aim to develop pearl millet lines perfect for cultivating in Zimbabwe’s conditions.
“The research is going on fine,” he told Grow Further. “Our preliminary results have led us to narrow on four lines which we will confirm and submit for release next year.” The winning varieties should be able to grow at relatively high or higher yields.
Their work is urgently needed.
Zimbabwe’s future rests with its children, and children there need healthy, nutritious diets to grow into the leaders and change-makers that the country needs.
Zimbabwe’s farmers are now struggling to grow food in one of the worst droughts that country has seen in generations. By some estimates, up to two-thirds of this year’s maize crop in Zimbabwe has already been lost to the drought. ICRISAT is working to develop durable, drought-resistant versions of pearl millet, a sub-Saharan African staple crop that’s already known for its ability to grow in arid conditions.
But we believe this project will have an even greater impact on tackling malnutrition in Zimbabwe.
The pearl millet varieties ICRISAT is working to deliver to farmers will be called “iron wheat,” and for good reason. For the added benefit of boosting nutrition and combating the prevalent high levels of iron-deficiency in the country, HarvestPlus will biofortify these pearl millet varieties with additional iron content.
It’s a win:win for better food security and better nutrition.
Getting closer to the goal
Dr. Ojulong reports that his team has already identified four promising candidate varieties of pearl millet.
HarvestPlus specializes in biofortification or the science of making food more nutritious. Thanks to their involvement, our project promises “to deploy nutrient-dense, biofortified, drought-resistant iron pearl millet to farms throughout Zimbabwe,” as we announced some weeks back.
Most smallholder agriculture in Zimbabwe is dependent on rain. With climate change, it’s safe to assume that weather patterns will become more erratic and droughts more frequent. The droughts are likely to be more severe, as well. Farmers there will need climate-resilient crops to adapt and survive.
“Our preliminary results have led us to narrow on four lines which we will confirm and submit for release next year.”
Dr. Ojulong is optimistic.
They are very close to identifying the best varieties of iron pearl millet to work with, he said. Next up, field trials and the initial groundwork for disseminating new and improved, nutrition-packed iron pearl millet seeds to smallholder farmers throughout the country.
“We intend to do further on-station evaluation of the lines to confirm their performance and stability,” he said. “We will then do final selection” ahead of a broader release to the market.
Another way to fight climate change
Earlier this month, diplomats from around the world gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan for another round of international climate talks, the 29th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Unfortunately, the negotiators returned to their homes from COP 29 with little to show for their two-weeks of discussions–no major breakthroughs were achieved.
With diplomats and politicians proving incapable of taking concrete actions to reverse this trend, it’s left up to organizations like Grow Further, HarvestPlus, and ICRISAT to help the world adapt.
But as important as climate adaptation is, we must never lose sight of the importance of combating malnutrition, which persists even in rain-abundant years.
Biofortified pearl millet is an innovation that HarvestPlus has developed to improve nutrition outcomes in Zimbabwe and beyond, especially for children and mothers. ICRISAT will ensure that the best varieties of iron-rich pearl millet reaches farmers and sees success in the fields and markets. Grow Further is channeling the funds these two organizations need to see this worthy project over the finish line. We’re excited about this project’s potential, which was only made possible thanks to the generous support of our members and donors. –
– Grow Further
Photo credit: Sydney Malunga, a pearl millet farming community in Zimbabwe. Joseph Opoku for Grow Further.
