15M EUROS WATER PROJECT LAUNCHED
GERMAN with nancial support from the European Union (EU) has launched a 15.7 million Euro Accelerated ater and Agriculture Resources Ef ciency (A ARE) project in Mazabuka. The 15.7 million Euros Grant to the Zambian is aimed at supporting irrigation and water management programme in which 11,000 small scale farmers will benefit. Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection Minister, Dennis Wanchinga, said water resources management played a critical role in the socio-economic development of Zambia. The Minister said proper water resources management contributed greatly to sustainable growth and poverty reduction. Dr Wanchinga said this during the launch pf the project through his Director of Water Supply and Sanitation, Orswell Katoka. Government, he said, was committed to developing the water sector as demonstrated through the creation of one-stop shop, the Ministry of Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection dedicated to coordinating all water sector policies and programmes in the country. Dr Wanchinga said the importance of the water sector had been emphasised in the Seventh National Development Plan. He stressed that although Zambia had abundant water resources, it had not yet been fully developed and equitably distributed across the country. He said Government was grateful to the Federal Republic of Germany for supporting the pilot project in the lower Kafue subcatchment as well as on the development of a digital water permitting system. The minister directed the Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA) to roll out catchment planning to other areas of the country based on the experiences from lower Kafue sub catchment pilot project. He said the project could not come at a better time than now when the country experienced severe drought particularly in the Southern, Central and western provinces. And Germany ambassador to Zambia, Ackim Burkart, said his country had set the water sector as one of the priority areas of the bilateral cooperation between the two countries. He said Germany through its implementing agencies –KFW, BGR and GIZ had supported the water sector reforms process as well as the formation of a new institutional setup in the water sector. Mr Burkart said the agricultural sector was the main water user in Zambia and the German government was also involved in the agricultural sector through the special initiative “One World – no Hunger.” The initiative, he said, was aimed at attaining food security as well as diverse and nutritious diet for rural households, particularly women and young children.