“Most of us here were born and raised in this ward, helping our parents with farming activities and continuing with farming when we finally had our own families,” farmer Tevera Romichi explains. However, the dry spells, high temperatures and erratic rainfall have become increasingly disturbing for him in recent years. “It became difficult to determine when we would receive enough rain to plant our crops without risking long dry spells,” he says.
The onset of rains in Mwenezi, Zimabwe, has shifted over the years, from late September to the end of October or early November. With most families in the district depending on agriculture for their livelihoods, the adverse change in climatic conditions has compromised food security.
