"A Roadmap for Flue-curing Tobacco Barns: Towards Developing Improved Energy Efficient Barns for Small holder Farmers in Zimbabwe".

Tobacco crop currently provides the best economic return per hectare amongst all the major annual crops grown in Zimbabwe. Tobacco production currently contributes 30 % of the total exports and nearly 10 % of the GDP. According to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, of the 106 127 number of registered tobacco growers, about 84 % belong to the smallholder category. The small holder section contributes more than 50 % of the total tobacco output. This article details the curing process and phases as well as the necessity of curing efficiency. An overview of the relationship between tobacco production and deforestation in Africa, and especially in Zimbabwe, is highlighted. A justification of the need for improved energy efficient flue-curing tobacco barns is presented. The article also reviews the different types of curing barns in Zimbabwe with particular attention to their development, operational systems, curing efficiencies, advantages and disadvantages. The main conclusion was that there is urgent need for improving energy efficiency in tobacco curing. In the short term, high fuel consumption can be reduced by optimizing the thermal efficiency of curing structures, particularly for smallholder tobacco growers in Zimbabwe.Keywords: tobacco, flue-curing, smallholder farmers, energy efficient barns, heat transfe

Southern African Agriculture and Climate Change: Zimbabwe. Summary note

This summary note is an excerpt from the chapter on Zimbabwe that will appear in the peer-reviewed IFPRI monograph, Southern African Agriculture and Climate Change: A Comprehensive Analysis

Use of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Scientific Methods for Climate Forecasting in Southern Zambia and North Western Zimbabwe.

The semi-arid areas of Southern Africa receive low and erratic rainfall which varies in both seasons and from year to year resulting in food insecurity. Few of the smallholder farmers have access to seasonal climate forecasts from the meteorological department hence they depend mostly on their indigenous knowledge systems for forecasting seasons which they make use of to develop crop management adaptive strategies. The study shows that farmers have several indicators for weather forecasting and some of these are similar in both Zambia and Zimbabwe. Some of these indicators include; floods or excessive rains in the preceding season, strong winds around October, an extended cold season that goes up to August and sometimes September and abundance or scarcity of certain fruits. The indicators conflict in some seasons and in such cases the farmers resort to using those that they know to have stronger signals from their reliability factors. Positive relationship between indigenous knowledge systems and modern science were observed between the 2008/9 season and 2009/10 which confirms that indigenous knowledge systems, when fully developed could be very helpful in seasonal forecasting. The study recommends the importance of the restoration of the confidence of the indigenous people in their traditional knowledge and skills of weather forecasting