Summary table

...

Factor

...

Last update: August 15, 2024

This page contains information about some of the data available in the FEWS NET Data Explorer (FDE) for Zimbabwe. This is not a comprehensive guide.

For information about using the filters and fields for specific domains in the FDE, see Choose a Data Domain.

Summary table

Country food security context

...

Statistical reporting units

The administrative hierarchy is generally used as the principal statistical reporting unit. Nevertheless, a significant portion of the country’s crop production is only reported at the sectoral level.

...

Other admin units: Communal lands/areas are key statistical reporting units with definite boundaries. They are often comprised of multiple wards, but always fall within a single district. In a few cases, an entire district is comprised of communal lands (e.g. UMP, Nkayi). Communal lands are not an admin 4 unit. They are an administrative structure that co-exists with wards and districts. They are represented in crop estimates both as a sector and as administrative/geographic units.

Crop data

Explore our crop data.

View our documentation on using the Crop Domain.

Crop estimate data sources

...

• Small-scale commercial farms (SSC) have a commercial focus in their crop production but include farms of a lesser size or infrastructure. SSCs and other "schemes" were introduced under various legislation in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They are becoming more important producers in some districts, but are still a small contributor to the country's production.

• Communal lands/areas (CA/CL), numbering approximately 150, are most often found in the drier agro-ecological zones (4 and 5). They are governed, in part, by traditional authorities, and subsistence farming is most often the principal focus of farms in this sector. For most crops, except wheat, sorghum, tobacco, cotton, coffee, and tea, grown principally in a LSC setting, communal areas often produce the largest shares of the country’s maize and other food crops. Communal land estimates add up to a district-level total which, in most cases, will comprise >80-90% of the district's total production in any year. Exceptions include the highland areas of Mashonaland West and Central, where large commercial farms were/are still found, and a few other districts.  

• Peri-Urban production is sometimes reported, most of which originates in Harare and its environs, and Bulawayo.   

• Multiple other farming sector types (“OR”, “A1”, “A2”), introduced under various legislation in the late 1990s and early 2000s, are becoming more important producers in some districts, but are still a small contributor to the country's production.

...

The Year corresponds to the year of harvest, in April, and is often denoted as YYYY=XXXX/YYYY, e.g., a two-date year notation of the harvest of April 2021 is 2020/2021.

Methodology

Crop estimates are made at the district and communal land level by local agricultural authorities. They are passed up the hierarchy of administrative units to the provincial and then national levels where they are approved. 

...