Irrigation water is life

DUE to climate change, the rains in Zimbabwe have been erratic over the last few years, alternating between flash floods and dry spells.

With agriculture being the backbone of the country’s economy, water is becoming even more precious.

As a result, Government has been proactive in ensuring that communities build up their resilience to withstand the adverse effects of climate change. This has seen many irrigation schemes sprouting up across the country, including the Nyakomba Irrigation Scheme in Nyanga, which is a pillar of Zimbabwe and Japan’s bilateral relationship.

Initially constructed just before the turn of the new millennium, the scheme had the capacity to irrigate 471 hectares and benefit 532 smallholder farmers.

Sadly, the facility fell into disrepair after Cyclone Eline-induced floods in 2000.

However, Japan came on board in the resuscitation of the scheme through an injection of US$18 million.

The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement’s Department of Irrigation, with the technical partnership from the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), rehabilitated the facility.

Following the completion of the rehabilitation work last year, President Mnangagwa commissioned the irrigation scheme on Wednesday.

A total of 861 smallholder farmers are reaping

huge rewards from the scheme as 617 hectares are now under irrigation. The Nyanga environs have been turned into greenbelts through the farmers’ irrigation projects.

As a result of the year-round dependable source of water, the farmers’ harvests in maize, sugar beans, peas, Tabasco chilli, tomatoes, paprika and wheat are expected to double.

Already, the people in Nyanga are recording success stories.

Some farmers at the irrigation scheme are growing chilli peppers for export, with markets already established as far as Europe and Asia.

Given that Zimbabwe’s agriculture has remained heavily reliant on summer rains, only to suffer from severe weather vagaries, the need to invest in sustainable agricultural practices cannot be overstated.

Zimbabwe, particularly Manicaland, is well endowed with a lot of perennial rivers as well as water bodies that have been lying idle for years, with some even prone to flooding, while the communities surrounding them wait for food aid.

If the trends in recent years are anything to go by, weather patterns have shifted for the worst and we cannot afford to continue relying on rain-fed agriculture.

In securing our livelihoods, we do not need to look any further than irrigation and mechanisation. It only takes irrigation to channel all that water to the fields and ensure the country’s food security, while at the same time contributing towards the attainment of the country’s Vision 2030 goals.

Improving agriculture and enhancing productivity through smallholder irrigation is one of the key strategies for alleviating poverty and improving the livelihoods of rural communities; especially considering that the majority of the rural people directly or indirectly depend on agriculture.

In addition, agriculture provides employment and income for 60 to 70 percent of the Zimbabwean population while supplying 60 percent of the raw materials required by the industrial sector and contributing 40 percent of total export earnings.

Therefore, if we play our cards right in this sector, Vision 2030 will be attained without breaking much sweat.