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Dumisani Nsingo, Senior Reporter
THE Government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on Friday signed a financing agreement of a $25,5 million grant to support Zimbabwe’s Smallholder Irrigation Revitalisation Programme (SIRP).
Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa signed the financing agreement in Rome, Italy.
IFAD approved the grant in September. IFAD is a UN Agency that is dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries.
In a statement, Minister Chinamasa said the SIRP is targeting 4 000 hectares of smallholder irrigation schemes in communal and old resettlement areas in Manicaland, Masvingo, Matabeleland South and Midlands provinces.
“The objective of the programme is to sustainably increase diversified production, productivity, income and improve resilience of households in the selected areas. The programme also seeks to provide support to improve market access and capacity building measures in order to boost food security, enhance management capacities within Government and farmers’ institutions and ensure the sustainability of the investment,” he said.
SIRP is consistent with the Government’s overall policy objective to enhance food security and poverty eradication in line with the country’s economic blueprint, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim Asset).
The Department of Agricultural Technical and Extension Service Matabeleland South provincial officer Mr Judia Ncube said the SIRP would go a long way towards reviving a number of communal irrigation schemes that are operating below capacity largely due to obsolete infrastructure.
“The programme is very important in the sense that we have a number of communal irrigation schemes that are not operating largely due to derelict irrigation equipment and water pumps that are always breaking down.
“We expect it to address this and that way production will improve. The Food and Agriculture Organisation has been funding some of the schemes but their assistance has been more of a drop in an ocean,” said Mr Ncube said.
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