Rushinga hails First Lady
THE Rushinga community has hailed First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe as a great philanthropist with passion to see the upliftment of the poor.
This follows the success of Chimhanda Irrigation Scheme where Dr Mugabe commissioned state-of-the- art irrigation equipment under the Brazil Food for Africa Programme last year.
Chimhanda Irrigation Scheme has become a towering beacon of development in Rushinga, creating employment in the agricultural sector for local people.
At least 145 people have plots on the 75-hectare irrigation scheme.
When The Herald visited the irrigation scheme on Saturday, most farmers were busy on the plots where they are growing wheat under Government’s Command Agriculture Programme.
The local leadership hailed Dr Mugabe saying her intervention last year was timely as evidenced by the yields they got during the 2016-17 farming season.
Chairman of Chimhanda Irrigation Scheme Mr Stanley Kapasura said life would never be the same again for the Rushinga community and surrounding areas.
“We want to thank the First Lady Amai Mugabe for her intervention with equipment last year,” he said.
“The irrigation scheme has now opened a floodgate of opportunities for us economically.
“We are supplying farm produce to local boarding schools such as Marymount and Nyamatikiti. Some people are coming as far as Mt Darwin to buy farm produce here and that has benefited us immensely as a community.
“We are now able to generate money to send our children to school without challenges and in terms of food we have enough that can sustain us until the next harvest.
“We have benefited under the Government Command Agriculture project and so far we have delivered 103 tonnes of maize to the Grain Marketing Board and we are expecting to deliver 40 more tonnes.”
Mr Kapasura, however, said their dam was under serious threat from siltation saying that Government and well wishers should intervene to save the situation.
He said electricity bills from Zesa were also too high for them.
“We are doing well but we have some few challenges as well. For instance we still have the other part of the irrigation scheme where we are using sprinklers, instead of the centre pivot. In that area we are not producing as much as we are suppose to do.”
A committee member of the Chimhanda Irrigation Scheme Mr David Kadyevhu said: “We want to thank the First Lady of this country Amai Mugabe for resuscitating this project. It has changed our lives drastically. I have bought a car and four head of cattle using proceeds from this irrigation scheme.
“What we are just appealing for is the construction of more dams; at least three because this is a dry area.”
Provincial Minister of State for Mashonaland Central Advocate Martin Dinha thanked Dr Mugabe for coming to the rescue of the Chimhanda Irrigation Scheme which was facing collapse.
“The Chimhanda Irrigation Scheme almost collapsed and was facing viability challenges due to lack of tools of trade when Amai Mugabe came and resuscitated the scheme by providing much needed tractors and irrigation equipment,” he said.
“That mechanisation thrust was the turning point. Now the project has achieved enhanced yields in both annual crops and horticultural produce.
“The objectives of Zim-Asset with regard to food production are now being achieved in the area, and this is as a result of the visionary leadership of Dr Mugabe who is a practical and hands on person.
“Dr Mugabe’s virtues of hard work and exemplary leadership skills are epitomised by her assistance to communities such as Chimhanda in Rushinga.
“The province of Mashonaland Central is now richer and well off given the assistance given to smallholder farmers by Dr Mugabe,” Advocate Dinha added.