Zim to benefit from landmine clearance programme

ZIMBABWE will benefit from a landmine clearance programme by APOPO Mine Action, after the Swiss Agency for Development injected US$1 million to the project, expected to remove a dense minefield at the Sengwe Wildlife Corridor in the southern part of the country.

The project will be implemented for two years, and is expected to save the lives of wildlife and people in the area that currently do not have access to safe agricultural land.

Through the initiative, at least 1 630 419 square metres of land will be made safe for local communities and wildlife in the area.

The southern parts of Zimbabwe face numerous challenges due to the existence of landmines that were laid four decades ago during the war of liberation.

According to government statistics, more than 1 550 people have been killed, while more than 2 000 people have been injured and more than 120 000 cattle have been killed or injured by landmines since the end of the war.

In a statement yesterday, the Swiss ambassador to Zimbabwe, Niculin Jäger, said removing landmines would allow authorities to achieve a balance between conservation and better land use by local communities.

He said removal of the landmines will assist local communities in the Sengwe Wildlife Corridor to regain their economic footing through agricultural productivity, which they have been deprived of in the past 40 years.

“The process will also support greater opportunities for transnational tourism between Zimbabwe, Mozambique; and South Africa,” he said.

APOPO Mine Action regional manager for Africa Tesfazghi Tewelde, said: “APOPO appreciates the Government of Switzerland’s continued commitment to our vital humanitarian work in Zimbabwe, and for its ongoing support to improve food security and livelihoods of these vulnerable communities in southern Zimbabwe.”

The Sengwe wildlife corridor is a critical passageway for the migration of elephants as well as endangered wildlife species such as wild dogs in the region.