HARARE, Zimbabwe (XOL Africa) — More than 188,000 farming households in Zimbabwe have benefited from a four-year emergency agricultural program that helped expand climate-smart farming, improve access to finance and contribute to record wheat production, according to the African Development Bank.
The Zimbabwe Emergency Food Production Project, funded with $25 million from the bank’s Transitional Support Facility, provided farmers with agricultural inputs, improved technologies and extension services while promoting climate-smart agriculture across 153,000 hectares.
The program also supported the production of drought-tolerant maize and sunflower seeds and contributed to average wheat yields of about 5 metric tons per hectare, the African Development Bank said.
The Zimbabwean government, the African Development Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations marked the completion of the initiative last week. The project formally concluded June 30.
Launched in 2022 in response to the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and global supply chain disruptions, the program was initially designed as an emergency measure to protect food production. It later evolved into a broader effort to strengthen agricultural resilience and food security.
“The Seed Revolving Fund is the blueprint for breaking the cycle of dependency and fostering genuine farmer ownership,” said Obert Jiri, permanent secretary in Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development.
“This is not merely the conclusion of a $25 million project — it is a celebration of resilience, a testament to the power of strategic partnerships, and a foundational milestone on our transformative journey towards Vision 2030,” Jiri said.
A flagship component, the Seed Revolving Fund, implemented through the AFC Land and Development Bank, supported more than 90,957 farmers, including about 33,108 women, in irrigation schemes. The fund recorded a loan repayment rate of more than 90%, which officials said demonstrated the ability of small-scale farmers to access and repay agricultural financing.
The project reached more than 188,000 farmers against a target of 180,000, with women accounting for 60% of beneficiaries, exceeding the initial target of 40%, according to Eyerusalem Fasika, the African Development Bank Group’s country manager for Zimbabwe.
“These are not just numbers on a page — they represent farming families who adopted new practices, accessed financing, and are now reaping the rewards in their harvests,” Fasika said.
The initiative also sought to modernize agricultural services through the IDEA farmer registry platform, which provides a digital foundation for extension services and agricultural data management.
To reduce post-harvest losses, the project supplied metal grain silos, threshers, moisture meters and oil-processing equipment. It also supported Zimbabwe’s Seed Services Institute and Crop Breeding Institute in efforts to strengthen domestic seed production and reduce dependence on imports.
A partial credit guarantee scheme administered by the Africa Fertiliser Financing Mechanism, in partnership with Fertiliser and Seeds Group, also helped expand access to agricultural financing.
The facility exceeded its initial $15 million target by more than $44 million in fertilizer sales, moving more than 80,000 metric tons of fertilizer through 23 private-sector agents and AFC, according to project officials.
“For FAO, this project evolved from a rapid response into a transformative initiative with impacts extending well beyond emergency support,” said Patrice Talla, the FAO subregional coordinator for Southern Africa and representative to Zimbabwe.
“The project made a significant contribution to building more resilient, inclusive and market-oriented agrifood systems while laying a strong foundation for sustainable agricultural transformation and food security in Zimbabwe,” Talla said.
Officials said lessons and financing models developed through the project are now informing Zimbabwe’s Agriculture, Food Systems and Rural Transformation Strategy 2 for 2026-2030.
The strategy aims to grow Zimbabwe’s agriculture sector to $15.8 billion by 2030 and increase agriculture’s contribution to gross domestic product to between 12% and 15%.
The African Development Bank said the completion of the project offered an opportunity to assess the results of four years of collaboration and apply the lessons learned to Zimbabwe’s next phase of agricultural transformation.
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