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Building resilience and sustainability in agripreneurship – Reflections from the Youth Agripreneurship Summit
The Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) recently hosted a transformative Youth Agripreneurship Summit, embodying the theme Building Resilience and Sustainability in a Changing World. This event gathered farmers and aspiring agripreneurs from across the nation to explore strategies for thriving amid the challenges of an ever-changing world. A day of inspiration The summit featured a lineup…
Managing salt injury in tobacco seedbeds
Our Tobacco Research Board, Kutsaga, has issued the following advisory on how to manage salt injury in tobacco seedbeds. The tobacco float seedling production system occasionally exposes plants to salt injury, especially where there is excessive evaporation due to winds or high temperatures. By Dr Susan Dimbi The float system technology offers numerous benefits for…
Rainfall outlook for Zimbabwe 2024/25 season
Last week, we shared the Twenty-Ninth Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF-29) rainy season forecast for the SADC region. This week, we are sharing our own national forecast, presented and shared by our Meteorological Services Department. The Meteorological Services Department of Zimbabwe (MSD) annually convenes a National Climate Outlook Forum (NACOF) in September, where…
Turning off the lights at Kariba
Lake Kariba is the pride of Zimbabwe, an enduring symbol of engineering triumph. The vast man-made reservoir straddling the banks of Zambia and Zimbabwe was built on the Zambezi River. The dam and six floodgates were built between 1955 and 1959 primarily for hydropower generation. However, the El Niño event of 2023 raises concerns about…
Outlook for Southern Africa’s climate: key findings from SARCOF-29
The Twenty-Ninth Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF-29) was held from August 26 to 28, 2024, in Harare. This forum brought together climate experts from various Southern African Development Community (SADC) National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and the SADC Climate Services Centre (CSC) to assess and forecast climate patterns for the upcoming 2024/2025…
Zimbabwe cattle traceability scheme celebrates 25 years of service to the livestock industry
The Livestock Identification Trust (LIT) celebrates its 25th year of business this month. The office opened on August 16, 1999 with Dr Mario Beffa as the General Manager and a team of 23 staff members. At an event held to celebrate this milestone achievement, Dr Beffa shared an insight into the Trust’s inception and growth…
Preparing for future challenges: Strengthening Zimbabwe’s livestock industry post-El Niño
By Selected Seeds Weather is often unpredictable, posing significant challenges for Zimbabwean farmers. Events such as droughts, cyclones, and extreme weather can devastate fertile land, leading to crop failures that adversely affect livelihoods. The El Niño phenomenon in 2023 highlighted these vulnerabilities, bringing unpredictable rains and soaring temperatures that severely impacted the agricultural sector. As…
Beef School 2024: Not to be missed
The Zimbabwe Herd Book (ZHB) 12th Annual Beef School is just around the corner, and it’s an event that no serious cattleman or woman can afford to overlook. Scheduled over three days from Tuesday, 17 September to Thursday, 19 September, and held in Bulawayo, this year’s program offers an impressive lineup of experts addressing topics…
The quiet revolution of soil health regeneration using the mighty magic of humble earthworms
Farming stories shared on this platform often focus on large-scale commercial enterprises, offering insights that are fascinating yet distant from many people’s realities. This story, however, is more personal and much closer to home. It is about Daniel, a resident of Harare who has embarked on an inspiring journey into vermiculture-a project that reflects his…
Buying a beef bull by AT Stubbs
FROM THE ARCHIVES Buying a beef bull Your day at the bull sale could be one of the most important, from a cattle breeding point of view, that you will spend this year.In the few brief moments of bidding for a bull you may be determining 80 per cent of the genetic future of at…