THE El Nino-induced drought likely to affect most of the country should be a rude awakening for a country that might not have been doing enough to prepare for such an eventuality.
The rains normally expected during this time of the year have been replaced by an unbearable heat wave.
Hunger is stalking the nation as no crops have been planted in most parts of the country.
Some of those who have received early rains have seen their crops wilting under the scorching sun.
Panic has gripped the nation with no apparent immediate solution to the imminent devastating drought.
However, belief systems seem to have offered some semblance of respite.
Christian churches have united in praying to the Almighty through His son Jesus Christ to bring some rains.
We assume Moslems and other religions have been doing the same.
Not to be left behind, traditionalists have assembled at appropriate centres to undertake rainmaking rituals to Mwari through their ancestral spirits.
We hold no brief as to determine which belief system is the correct one.
Suffice to say something very interesting happened in Bulawayo last week.
While Acting President Phelekezela Mphoko led rain prayers for Christians in a Bulawayo church, a few kilometres away traditionalists were gathered in the Matobo Hills for a similar ritual.
Soon after that the heavens opened up and it rained heavily in Bulawayo.
Both groups might have claimed credit for facilitating the ‘unexpected’ opening of heavens.
But wait a minute.
For those who follow weather forecasts, the current El Nino phenomenon was predicted over a year ago and the rains experienced in Bulawayo last week had been mentioned in weather reports way back in December.
So while prayers and ceremonies might be the solution to happenings that might be difficult to understand, something more than prayer is required to tackle predictable problems.
Amidst the current drought, recently on television there was this success story of villagers somewhere in Manicaland with a bumper harvest of maize already.
Here the magic of irrigation was there for all to see.
This is the way to go.
The present drought is a successor to many we have had before and many more are therefore expected to follow.
That is why we would like to see a system where all areas with functional irrigation facilities published.
This way we shall be able to take stock of progress province by province and district by district each year.
This should include boreholes at household level which can be used to irrigate small pieces of land.
We also expect parastatals like Agricultural Rural Development Authority (ARDA) to go back to their leading role of producing for the nation, this time with exemplary irrigation methods.
Instead of importing, Zimbabwe should be in a position to export surplus grain.
It should pain us that the Government has this year already mobilised US$260 million to import maize to cater for drought-prone areas in the country.
If we had adequately prepared for drought, imagine the developmental projects that would have benefitted from these millions of dollars.
Those in areas where it is difficult to establish irrigation facilities, the importance of small grains should not be mere talk shop.
The El Nino phenomenon is there to stay since the industrialised nations will continue producing gases and fumes and exploding bombs that damage the ozone layer, which is supposed to protect us from the vagaries of the weather.
The ball is in our court.
Church prayers and traditional rainmaking rituals are fine but these should never supplant scientific preparations.