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The Middle Zambezi
Zambia and Zimbabwe dominate this part of the
basin; agricultural practices are both subsistence and
commercial. In Zambia the majority of the land is for
subsistence farming. Although there is some commercial
farming activity, there is no designated separation
of the two types as is the case in Zimbabwe.
In Zimbabwe, the most productive area is the plateau
in the south along the watershed and the west
between Harare and Karoi. Commercial farming is
practiced in this whole area with a few exceptions.
The area has the highest rainfall while areas designated
for communal farms lie in very low rainfall
zones. A colonial legacy where black people were
confined to marginal and barren land is being
addressed through land and agrarian reforms.
Farming systems in the communal areas range
from small-scale commercial in resettlement areas
to subsistence communal accounting for about 40
percent of the area of the basin in Zimbabwe.
Animal draught power is used extensively and cattle
are an important factor in the farming system.
Maize and sorghum are the dominant food crops,
while cotton, tobacco and sunflower are the most
important cash crops.
The traditional shifting slash-and-burn agricultural
system, which was prevalent in the extreme
northeast and northwest of the plateau in Zambia, is
being replaced by more sedentary systems due to
population pressure. Highly productive commercial
and corporate farming enterprises exist in the highrainfall
regions. More commercial farms are located
in the Kabwe, Mukonchi and Chisamba areas in
Zambia, and cotton is an increasingly important
crop among emergent commercial farmers that relocated
from the drier south. In West Mumbwa and
adjacent to the Kafue River, the commercial farming
area is underutilised due to poor infrastructure.
Horticulture and floriculture crops dominate the
Lusaka/Kafue area with the limestone aquifers providing
water for irrigation.
There are few commercial farms in the southern
province of Zambia and in these the major crop
grown is tobacco. Cattle rearing is the main activity
among peasant farmers while sugar, wheat and coffee
are the main crops grown in the Mazabuka area.
The Nakambala Sugar Estate is located in this area.
In the Eastern Province plateau adjacent to the
Malawi border, maize is grown widely while cotton,
groundnuts and tobacco are the main cash crops.
The hoe method of cultivation is practiced in the
Luangwa and Zambezi Valley areas. This method
involves cutting down trees and sometimes debarking
and then piling the biomass into scattered heaps.
The Lower Zambezi
The lower Zambezi basin has more agricultural activity
than the other two. Malawi, Mozambique,
Tanzania and Zambia are part of this area. In
Tanzania, agriculture is rainfed. Major crops grown in
this area are cassava, maize, bananas and rice in the
lowland areas of the Kyela plains and cash crops
include tea, tobacco, coffee, cocoa and maize.
Flooding contributes to reduced agricultural activity.
The main form of land use around Lake
Malawi/Nyasa/Niassa is rural subsistence farming. A
heavy population density on relatively small pieces
of land is the dominant factor with regard to landuse.
The commercial estates are designated farming
areas where other forms of settlement and farming
are restricted. There are, however, few commercial
estates and these are crop specific.
Cash crops are many and varied. Tobacco is economically
the most important, and grown by tenants
on large and small estates. Most of the land is
for rural subsistence farming with individual family
units allocated less than five hectares for both cultivation
and animal rearing.
Maize is the dominant staple food; cassava predominates
on the lakeshore districts such as Nkhota
Kota and Nkhata Bay in Malawi, and in Tanzania. The
southern region of Malawi has rich soils for agriculture,
and plantations take up a major part of that land. In the
south are large commercial tea and tobacco plantations
around Mulanje and the biggest sugar estate in Malawi.
In Mozambique, subsistence agriculture dominates
in the rural areas. In the delta area, farming is
dependent on the available moisture. In areas that
are seasonally flooded, relay cropping is practiced,
and rice, maize and beans are commonly grown.
There are sugar estates in the delta and coconut is
grown in areas near the coast. In higher areas, cassava
takes the place of maize and rice as the staple
crop and cotton is grown on the alluvial soils at the
extreme west end of the delta.
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