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Elton Manguwo
WITH the programme to revitalise irrigation schemes now in full swing, the Government has urged farmers to commercialise their operations to complement its efforts towards rural industrialisation.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development permanent secretary Dr John Basera said farmers in irrigation schemes should take advantage of the environment created by the Government to build successful business ventures around their irrigation schemes.
“Commercialisation of irrigation schemes is a key component of the Government’s rural industrialisation thrust,” he said.
The Government tasked the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) and the Agricultural Market Authority (AMA) to help farmers properly conduct the production and marketing processes of farming.
“The market must inform production and it is in this regard that we brought in AMA and ARDA to improve agronomy and marketing,” said Dr Basera.
Rural industrialisation, which is part of the Second Republic’s devolution agenda, involves nurturing agro-processing start-up enterprises in rural areas through financial and technological support.
“The emphasis is on sustainable business models from the farmers mainly so they can take farming as a business and they can in turn be able to independently maintain and operate their revitalised irrigation schemes,” said Dr Basera.
AMA field staff in all the provinces of the country are responsible for product mapping to curb uncoordinated production models and lack of market information that affected farmers’ profit margins in irrigation.
The market information is distributed among irrigation schemes through AMA field staff and agricultural extension officers to help farmers understand market dynamics that enhance decision making in terms of agricultural production and marketing.
“These arrangements will promote production and maximum land use while giving farmers the platform to enjoy good profits from their operations,” said Dr Basera.
In response to climate change, the Government has been rehabilitating irrigation schemes to capacitate small-scale farmers to produce all year around.
The Government has also come up with a budget of US$20 million under the Smallholder Irrigation Infrastructure Development Fund (SIIDF) for the expansion of irrigation infrastructure in the country, as climate change continues to affect agricultural production.
“Increased irrigation land in the country is crucial in championing the attainment of the Vision 2030 objective of an upper middle income economy as well as achieving the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) targets,” said Dr Basera
The programme is targeting irrigation rehabilitation and development on 350 000 hectares by 2025.
“The objective is to reduce the vulnerability of smallholder farmers to food and nutrition insecurity, climate change effects and economic shocks,” said Dr Basera.
Online Reporter