Nyanga's green revolution:
NYAKOMBA Irrigation Scheme has been a dream in the making for decades.
But the best from the scheme is yet to come, especially after the completion of the $15 million rehabilitation that the scheme is undergoing in a joint project between the Government of Zimbabwe and the Japan International Co-operation Agency (Jica).
“Structural work should be done by March next year,” explained George Kairezi, from the Department of Irrigation, the resident engineer of the project, during a tour of the 580-hectare irrigation scheme last week. “We started rehabilitation work in November 2017 and according to our projections, our construction work should be done by March.”
The dream to turn the area around Nyakomba into a green belt began in 1996 with the construction of the first block, Block C, which became operational the following year.
Block B was added in 1997, with farmers getting onto their plots in 1998. The last of the blocks to get operational was Block D in 2000.
Then in 2006 massive floods hit the Gairezi River, from which the scheme draws its water, submerging pumps under water. “For Blocks B and C, it was a question of drying the pumps and getting back to work but Block D was a complete write-off,” further said Eng Kairezi.
Blocks B and C were temporarily shut down as the pumps were dried, a process which was done under a year. But Block D took time to come back on line, only being resuscitated in 2013.
“But there have been some concerns, given Block D’s proximity to the river bank, that should there be a recurrence of floods, the pump station will be affected again,” noted Eng Kairezi.
To this end, Block D is undergoing a major revamp, with a new pump house being built after which new pumps will be installed. Blocks B and C have undergone rehabilitative work, of which the control panels have been replaced as well as the addition of flood protection walls.
A new block, Block A, has been added. Interesting that Block A should be the last one to be built? “That was the plan from inception, that this irrigation scheme was to be built in stages, and we started off with Block C, then moved to B then D and A. Block A should have been added years back but work was put on hold during the hyper-inflationary days.”
With Jica the financiers of the rehabilitation of the scheme, Japanese firm Konoike are the main contractors, who in turn sub-contracted Masimba Construction. “Over 200 workers, most of them drawn from around this area, were employed to help build the new pump houses at Block A and D, the all-new set of canals in Block A as well the construction of flood protection walls around Blocks B and C,” said Eng Kairezi.
Besides the massive employment opportunities for the local community, the businesses operating at both Nyakomba and Nyamaropa have seen increased sales. For instance, a local caterer was offered the tender of supplying meals to the over 200 workers every day, from November 2017 right up to the end of the construction.
Local hardware shops and other retailers stock from local producers.
According to Eng Kairezi, a cement-making company, another brick-moulding and a supplier of three-quarter stones from Harare were the major suppliers of materials that could not be sourced from within Nyanga.
“I don’t know how many 30-tonne trucks made their way here with cement, especially Block A which had to be built from scratch. The benefits to support industries was massive and with commissioning set for next year, we look forward to the green revolution of Nyanga,” he said.
But it should be the farmers who should be singing songs of joy. At the moment only Block D is operational, with the other three blocks expected to be ready in time for the next year’s irrigation season.
Growing an assortment of cash crops, ranging from sugar beans, tomatoes, green mealies, vegetables to wheat, the farmers are happy with their association with Better Agriculture who commissioned them to grow chillies for the popular Tabasco range of spices.
The chillies are turned into a paste at the farm, before being taken to the United States. “Chillies are among the popular crops here,” explained Edmore Sithole, the Agritex supervisor in charge of the irrigation scheme, “and this is because the chillies are grown under contract so the farmers know that they don’t have the hassle of trying to market their harvest.”
Seed sugar bean is also grown under contract, with Klein Karoo Seeds the off-taker of the harvests.
Ian Murambiza, treasurer with the irrigation management committee for Block C, explained the benefits that the communal farmers have derived since the inception of the scheme: “We plant our summer crops earlier than farmers who depend on rain-fed seasons, because the water is available. And when it is a lean season, as is forecast for the coming one, we supplement the rainfall. That way, we are always assured of good returns every cropping season.”
Block C has 168 farmers who each hold 0,7 hectares of arable land.
“When this scheme was conceived,” explained Sithole, “there was an agreement amongst the farmers to give up their communal land and become one big farm, divided into blocks. So the number of farmers who signed up in a particular block shared their combined acreage. So you will find the plot size differs from block to block, it depends on the number of farmers who signed per each block as well as the land available to be shared.”
Though the farmers are somehow over the moon with the changes that the irrigation scheme has brought into their lives, they are not very amused by the water and power tariffs that they have to pay every month.
“We share our Zesa and Zinwa bills every month, per block, and our efforts to have our rates reduced have not been successful. At one time Block C received a bill for $21 000 and though we paid it ultimately, if left some farmers on the verge of collapse. Farmers ended up having to sell some of their domestic animals to raise the money,” said Murambiza.