Farmers in the semi-arid Gokwe district in the Midlands province have lost all hope of any harvest after a brutal mid-season dry spell that destroyed their cotton crop.
Gokwe district is renowned for growing cotton in areas that include Nembudziya, Nemangwe, Chitekete, Manoti and Sengwa Bridge.
Villagers of Gokwe North and the Nembudziya area have are now counting their losses and are apprehensive of the future as they are now struggling to find water for domestic use and provide for their domestic animals after most of the rivers and boreholes dried up.
A villager from Rashai Village, Makore ward 12 told New Zimbabwe.com that they are now walking seven kilometres to the nearest waterhole. Said Munyuki:
We now have to accept that there is a drought this year. All rivers have dried up and our maize fields and cotton fields have also been scorched. I really don’t think a farmer this side will be able to harvest even a bale of cotton the situation is very bad I tell you.
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More: NewZimbabwe.com