MARTIN MAWAYA
GWERU-The Midlands Province is facing acute shortages of certified seed for traditional grains and legumes, threatening food security and climate resilience, a senior agriculture official said on Tuesday.
Midlands Provincial Director for Agricultural Rural Development and Advisory Services, Busiso Mavankeni (pictured), said limited access to quality seed is undermining smallholder farmers, who are increasingly relying on drought-tolerant crops.
“Midlands Province is currently experiencing serious shortages of seed for traditional grains and legumes,” she told a consultative workshop on the National Seed Development Plan (2026–2030).
Crops such as sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet, cowpeas, groundnuts and Bambara groundnuts have become “essential pillars of climate resilience,” she said, but certified seed remains scarce.
Farmers are relying on recycled seed or informal markets, where quality is often poor and distribution systems fragmented, she added.
“Every successful agricultural season begins with seed. Every failed season often begins with the absence of seed,” Mavankeni said.
The workshop is part of nationwide consultations feeding into a new five-year seed strategy aimed at improving production, certification and distribution as climate shocks intensify.
Agriculture experts say community-based seed banks could help ease shortages by allowing farmers to store, exchange and reuse locally adapted seed.
“Seed banks ensure availability even when formal systems fail,” said Regis Mafuratidze, head of policy and advocacy at the Community Technology Development Organisation.
They also help preserve crop diversity and provide low-cost access to seed for smallholder farmers, who often struggle to buy certified varieties.
Zimbabwe’s seed laws currently favour formally certified seed, limiting the recognition of farmer managed seed systems that dominate rural areas.
Mafuratidze said the Markets and Seeds Access Project (MASAP) will help authorities develop a legal framework to register and recognise farmer varieties.
“Right now, the farmer seed system is not formally recognised,” he said. “MASAP is helping to create a framework that allows these varieties to be registered and supported.”
Analysts say legal recognition could allow farmer-bred seeds to enter formal markets, improving access, quality assurance and investment.
Mavankeni added that the pilot programmes had shown progress but needed scaling up.
“We must move away from seed shortages to national seed security,” she said.
The National Seed Development Plan (2026–2030) is expected to provide a coordinated response, but for farmers in the Midlands Province, access to seed remains an urgent challenge.
