High-yielding Climate-resilient beans improve food security and kick-start business in Zimbabwe

Agriculture used to be at the center of
Zimbabwe’s economy, accounting for about
20% of GDP. But it has since declined to
about 10%, since the introduction of the
land reform bill. The government has been
intensifying efforts to prioritize the sector
until 2020. The mostly rural population
depend on agriculture, which provides
60-70% of the population with income.
Yet smallholder farmers face significant
challenges. Low and erratic rainfall,
drought, low and declining soil fertility
result in widespread poverty and recurring
food insecurity. Chronic malnutrition and
stunting remain major threats, where less
than 10 percent of children aged 6–24
months consume the minimal acceptable
diet.
Beans as a staple crop provide important
protein and can improve income and food
security. Yet production dropped 67%
between 2010 and 2015, with drought,
disease and lack of technology, combined
with the transition from large-scale
commercial farming to a small scale
cropping following land reform in the
country, hitting communities hard. The
flagship project: “Improving food security,
nutrition, incomes, natural resource base
and gender equity for better livelihoods of
smallholder households in sub-Saharan
Africa,” between 2015 and 2020 supported
by the Swiss Agency for Development
Corporation (SDC) and Global Affairs
Canada (GAC), sought to rectify this drop.
Partnership between the government’s
Department of Research and Specialist
Services (DR&SS) and private companies
boosted volumes of high-quality seed of
high-yielding, climate resilient and market
preferred bean varieties from 520 tons in
2015 to 1,840 tons in 2019. Quality bean
seed was more available to 1,110,485
farmers in 2019, who also now have better
links with markets, more opportunities to
sell beans and a better understanding of
crop management options like fertilizer use
which can increase yields. Project partners
have also worked with national researchers
to strengthen capacity, ensuring more
beans are bred to withstand local
challenges like drought, while educating
communities of their benefits and scaling
up their seed production and access.