Manzini – About 36 climate-smart shade net structures are set to be constructed across the country, thanks to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) support. These structures will ensure minimal disruption to traditional farming systems while strengthening the country’s agricultural resilience.
The FAO Eswatini Assistant Representative, Howard Mbuyisa, said the project targets 40 communities nationwide, with 36 shade net structures planned for rollout.
He said that 11 structures have been completed so far, seven of which are fully operational, while the remaining sites are progressing through assessment, construction and farmer capacity-building phases.
He was speaking at the consultative workshop for the development of Eswatini’s FAO Country Programming Framework (CPF) for 2026 to 2030 that was jointly convened by FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture in Manzini. The workshop validates FAO’s comparative advantage while defining priority outcomes for the next programming cycle.
The programme, which is already under implementation, is delivering 2,000-square-metre shade net structures designed to enable year-round production while protecting crops from excessive heat, hailstorms, pests, birds and increasingly erratic rainfall. Hundreds of beneficiaries, including youth groups, elderly farmers and small-scale producers, are already beginning to experience the benefits of a more predictable and controlled production environment.
Mbuyisa said that the shade nets are part of an integrated climate-smart agriculture package rather than stand-alone infrastructure.
Alongside construction, farmers are receiving hands-on training in improved production practices, including crop selection, water-efficient irrigation, soil management, pest control and post-harvest handling.
Continuous on-site support from extension teams is ensuring that the structures translate into sustained productivity gains and are not left underutilised.
From a broader sector perspective, the expansion of protected cultivation is addressing one of Eswatini’s longstanding agricultural constraints, low resilience among small-scale producers. By improving yield stability and reducing seasonal income shocks, the shade net structures are strengthening local food supply, particularly for vegetables, while contributing to improved food and nutrition security.
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