AFTER 15 years of watching in agony as their once thriving irrigation project collapsed, the community of Tshikwalakwala in Beitbridge district, Matabeleland South province has every reason to smile once again following the intervention by Government.
Government in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has invested US$1 million to rehabilitate Tshikwalakwala Irrigation Scheme in Beitbridge District, Matabeleland South, as the Second Republic continues accelerating rural development and industrialisation.
IFAD is a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to improve agricultural development and livelihoods in rural areas of developing countries.
The Government intervened to save the irrigation project from total collapse through the Smallholder Irrigation Revitalisation Programme (SIRP).
Work to revitalise the project started in 2019 and was completed in September 2021.
A total of 126 potholders working with Agritex have cleared 30 hectares under the first phase, and they have been planting maize, soya beans, and wheat since 2022, and supplying the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and the local market.
At the moment the farmers have put 12,5 ha under winter wheat while preparations for summer crops are underway.
Under the Smallholder Irrigation Revitalisation Programme, the irrigation system was mechanised with solar plants which can generate a combined 129 kilowatts of power and eight more boreholes were drilled. The solar plants can irrigate up to 1 000 hectares.
Eight additional boreholes were drilled to augment the water supply.
In interviews, potholders commended Government for breathing life into the Tshikwalakwala irrigation scheme.
“We are grateful that Government and its partners for coming to our rescue. We are considering erecting an electric fence as a long-term plan to deter wild animals from destroying key infrastructure and crops,” said Mr Aaron Baloyi.
He said prior to the latest development, farmers used to rely on three diesel-powered engines to pump water, which was expensive for them.
When the project started running last year, it had 113 plot holders, and the number has grown to 126.
“Following the first harvest of maize, most potholders had started tilling the land and are now seeing value in the project,” said Mr Baloyi.
While they wait for the completion of land clearance on the remaining 35 hectares, each plot holder is utilising 0,2 hectares of land.
There are also plans to expand the hectarage to 90 hectares of which 25 hectares will be reserved for citrus farming. Zimbabwe is an agrarian economy with most of the country’s sectors being directly and indirectly linked to the agricultural sub-sector.
The Government under the Second Republic is targeting the transformation of rural and urban economies through the enhancement of food, nutrition, markets, and jobs using value chains as a means of achieving a prosperous, inclusive, diverse, sustainable and competitive agriculture sector.
Zimbabwe envisages to be an upper middle-income economy by 2030 and agriculture is critical in the attainment of that vision, with the sector targeting to become a US$8,2 billion economy by 2025.
Another plot holder, Mrs Saliwe Sithole said: “As women you will note that we carry the larger part of the social burden and it is pleasing that after such a big investment by the Government, we are able to generate income.”
She said the use of renewable energy in the project has helped cut operational costs for them.
Mrs Sithole said that the adoption of irrigation-based farming enables them to grow crops throughout the year.
Another farmer, Mr John Sibanda who is a member of the irrigation management committee said since they started getting support on their project, they are looking forward to an improved standard of living
“The construction of two ground solar plants has in some way helped us to address power supply challenges to enable us to water crops consistently. The introduction of surface piped water is a better way of conserving water considering that most canals are prone to wear and tear,” he said.
Mrs Lissie Hathlani said the revitalisation of the project had brought relief to many farmers in Ward 1..
The communal irrigation project was started in the 1960s and has been grounded for a very long time, due to a number of challenges.
One of the major challenges of the project has been the use of diesel pumps which was not sustainable. – The Chronicle
