Christopher Makaza.

The United Nations in Zimbabwe continues to complement government efforts in reviving the agricultural sector through partnering with Agritex to provide farmers with good agronomic practices.

In 2018 alone, 270 000 farmers mainly youth and women were trained on extension services. The UN is also promoting the farming of drought-tolerant grains and legumes across the country especially this time when the nation experiences El-Nino.

UN Zimbabwe on its twitter page, UN Zimbabwe@UNZimbabwe, posted, “Agriculture in Zimbabwe is the mainstay of 70% of the population. United Nations Zimbabwe partners with Agritex to provide farmers with capacity building in agribusiness and maintenance of irrigation infrastructure among others.

“Increased efforts are being made to engage women and youth in agriculture. In 2018, UN Zimbabwe supported enhanced access to agricultural services training 270,000 farmers, mainly on extension services for women and youth.

“UN Zimbabwe also promotes farming of drought-tolerant grains and legumes, like sorghum, as a resilience strategy for farmers in Zimbabwe in response to recurrent droughts.”

Besides supporting agriculture, UN also supports programmes against Gender Based Violence (GBV) including a $4.7 million joint programme with Sweden and Ireland to end violence against women and children as well as national efforts to end harmful practices of child marriages in Zimbabwe.

UN in Zimbabwe strongly believes that women’s economic empowerment is critical for sustainable development. It linked 3,600 women to local and regional markets and equipped 3,524 with knowledge and skills in agribusiness.