Government targets 350 000ha summer irrigation by 2030

Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka says Zimbabwe plans to expand summer irrigation to 350 000 hectares by 2030 as Government intensifies efforts to climate-proof the agriculture sector amid forecasts of below-normal rainfall in the 2026/27 season.

Masuka said the country had developed 67 021 hectares of irrigation in 2026, describing the increase as the highest annual expansion recorded in the country. He said the national target was to increase the area available for summer irrigation from the current 100 000 hectares to 350 000 hectares every summer.

The Minister was speaking at the 86th Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) Annual Congress at Village Lodge in Gweru yesterday, held under the theme “Harnessing Innovation for Resilience”.

He said the irrigation expansion was part of broader measures to strengthen agricultural production against climate-related shocks, particularly following a warning from the Meteorological Services Department of a strong El Niño in the 2026/27 season accompanied by below-normal rainfall.

Masuka said Government had adopted a Summer Plan incorporating a Drought Plan built around six pillars, namely an enhanced Strategic Grain Reserve, accelerated climate-smart production, an integrated financing architecture, livestock drought mitigation, enhanced imports, and coordination, early warning systems and capacity-building support.

He said the Zimbabwe Farmers Union was represented in three of the six pillars, covering the Strategic Grain Reserve, enhanced imports, and coordination, early warning systems and capacity-building support.

Masuka said Zimbabwe had historically suffered significant cereal production losses during drought years, with an average reduction of 1 556 481 metric tonnes between 1980 and 2024. However, he said climate-proofing measures had reduced the cereal production loss to 781 970 metric tonnes in 2024.

“The envisaged reduction in production in 2026/2027 is 45.82 percent,” Masuka said, highlighting the scale of the anticipated production challenge facing the agricultural sector during the coming season.

He said Government expected the irrigation programme to produce 500 000 metric tonnes from 100 000 hectares this summer, with production projected to rise to 1.75 million metric tonnes by 2030 as irrigation coverage expands.

Masuka also said Government was implementing market reforms and measures to reduce the cost of doing business in agriculture. He said Statutory Instrument 87 of 2025 was intended to strengthen market governance, promote transparent pricing, support farmer aggregation and improve access to structured markets so producers could capture a fairer share of the value they create.