Raymond Jaravaza, rayjaravaza@chronicle.co.zw
FOR years, the Dube family of Kombo Village in Insiza District watched their hopes wither alongside their crops. Season after season, their fields yielded barely a tonne of maize, pearl millet, sorghum or groundnuts combined — a harvest so meagre it barely sustained them, let alone offered the promise of surplus. Blaming the unforgiving soils and erratic rains, they resigned themselves to survival, not success.
Selling to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) was a dream too distant to chase. The land seemed to mock their efforts, and the idea of farming as a path to prosperity faded into frustration. Yet, in the face of adversity, something shifted — and what followed was nothing short of a transformation.
By her own admission, Lita Dube said the thought of barely scraping by until the next harvest had become disheartening, and she nearly gave up on farming altogether. Fast forward to 7 November 2025, and the Dube family is now recognised as one of many model communal farmers who have transformed their lives through the Government’s climate-proofed agricultural programme — Intwasa/Pfumvudza. From harvesting less than a tonne across four crops, Patrick Dube (71) and his wife Lita (59) now produce over 3.5 tonnes from a modest plot behind their home in Kombo Village. Following the successful implementation of Intwasa/Pfumvudza principles tailored to Insiza’s soil and climate, the family’s 2024/25 summer cropping season yielded two tonnes of maize, up from an average of 0.5 tonnes.
Their sorghum harvest rose from 0,15 to 0,65 tonnes, pearl millet increased from 100kg to 0,3 tonnes, and groundnuts jumped from 0,1 to 0,8 tonnes. In total, the couple achieved a combined harvest of 3,75 tonnes — a remarkable turnaround that mirrors the national success of the Intwasa/Pfumvudza programme, which targets 3.5 million households under the Presidential Inputs Scheme.
Centred on conservation farming, efficient water use, and improved soil management, the Intwasa/Pfumvudza model remains a cornerstone of Zimbabwe’s agricultural transformation and food security strategy in the face of climate change.
Yesterday, hundreds of villagers from Kombo and surrounding communities gathered at the Dube homestead to witness the launch of the National Intwasa/Pfumvudza Programme, officiated by Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Dr Anxious Masuka.
He was joined by Provincial Ministers Albert Nguluvhe (Matabeleland South), Ezra Chadzamira (Masvingo), Misheck Mugadza (Manicaland), and Minister of Industry and Commerce Mangaliso Ndlovu, who attended in his capacity as Zanu-PF Matabeleland South provincial chairman.
Other provincial ministers were represented by their permanent secretaries or senior Government officials.
Mrs Dube shared her testimony with the crowd, explaining how Intwasa had changed her family’s fortunes.
“Unlike conventional farming methods that require farmers to till their land using tractors or cattle-drawn ploughs, Intwasa allows farmers who cannot afford equipment to use just their hands to prepare the land.
“To my fellow villagers, the excuse that you don’t have cattle or donkeys to till your land is not good enough because we are all able-bodied and can dig Intwasa holes using our hands,” she said.
In a side interview with Saturday Chronicle, the 59-year-old said the benefits of Intwasa are too signifi-cant to ignore.
“The soils here in Insiza are not the best for rain-fed agriculture, but Intwasa allows farmers to use livestock manure in a single hole instead of spreading it across the whole field where it will have zero value to the crops. I can safely say that Intwasa changed our lives. We started practising it two years ago and we are already seeing the benefits — we’re not looking back,” she said.
The couple received seed, fertiliser and chemicals through the Presidential Inputs Scheme, which sup-ports Intwasa/Pfumvudza annually. They joined scores of other villagers, including traditional leaders, who also benefited from the scheme. Under the programme, each household receives inputs tailored to its agro-ecological region to maximise productivity and climate adaptation.
Farmers in Regions 1 and 2, which receive higher rainfall, are allocated 10kg maize seed packs, while those in Region 3 receive 5kg. In the drier Regions 4 and 5, households are given 2kg of drought-tolerant small grains such as sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet.
Each beneficiary also receives a 50kg bag of basal fertiliser, top-dressing fertiliser, and lime to improve soil health and productivity. This input distribution model ensures that farmers across Zimbabwe plant crop varieties suited to local climatic conditions, promoting climate resilience and food self-sufficiency.
In his remarks, Minister Masuka said that since the launch of Intwasa/Pfumvudza in 2020, a suitable venue is selected each year to mark the start of inputs distribution for the summer season.
“Last year we were at Chief Gwebu in Buhera, Manicaland Province. The Intwasa/Pfumvudza Pro-gramme is a science-tested and fact-based sustainable intensive conservation agriculture model that is climate-smart and part of building a resilient system to the ever-increasing calamities of climate change.
“The Dube family has amply demonstrated the growth of the programme with their harvest increasing from 0.85 tonnes to 3.75 tonnes, which represents a 341 percent increase since they adopted Intwasa,” he said.
Dr Masuka added that agriculture has grown from a US$5.6 billion industry in 2020 to US$10.3 billion in 2025, and is projected to become a US$15.8 billion industry by 2030.
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