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Elita Chikwati
Senior Agriculture Reporter
Zimbabwe yesterday joined the rest of the world in commemorating the World Water with emphasis being placed on the management of groundwater to improve the livelihoods of people, especially rural communities.
The day was commemorated under the theme “Groundwater; Making the invisible, visible” in recognition of the important role that groundwater plays in the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goal 6.
The SDGs 6 calls on all countries of the world “to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030”.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister Douglas Karoro said the commemorations came at a time when Government was exploring groundwater resources for the realisation of a number of deliverables that include improved access to water for communities, food security, poverty alleviation and employment creation.
“As a country, groundwater has always been central to improvement of our people’s livelihoods and as we seek to transform Zimbabwe into an upper middle income economy by 2030, the centrality of groundwater in socio-economic development is also on the increase.
“Leveraging on our abundant groundwater resources, we have embarked on a very ambitious but highly achievable journey to drill 35 000 boreholes in the country’s eight rural provinces by 2025. This means drilling a borehole for each of the 35 000 villages in Zimbabwe by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority.
The boreholes will anchor the recently launched Presidential Rural Horticulture Scheme paving way for the establishment of horticultural projects such as nutrition gardens fish, ponds, orchards, poultry and provision of water for dip tanks and piped water for domestic needs.
“This intervention in which groundwater is key; will go a long way in empowering and uplifting lives of our communities through enhanced food security and improved access to clean safe water.
Deputy Minister Karoro expressed concern that unregulated drilling of boreholes in major towns and cities especially in Harare was threatening groundwater resources.
“We shall be looking into our existing groundwater policies and framework with a view to regulate borehole drilling activities; including drilling companies so that we can bring order and sanity in the field,” he said.
In a speech read on his behalf by a country representative Mr Martiale Zebaze Kana, UNESCO regional director Prof Lidia Arthur Brito said groundwater accounted for 99 percent of all liquid freshwater on earth.
“This natural resource is often poorly understood and consequently undervalued, mismanaged and even abused. Sates have been called on to commit and develop adequate and effective groundwater management and governance policies to address current and future water crises throughout the globe.
“In Sub-Saharan Africa, the opportunities offered by the vast acquirers remain largely under-exploited. Only three percent of farmland is equipped for irrigation and only five percent of that area uses groundwater, compared to 59 and 57 percent respectively in North America and South Asia.
“The development of groundwater could act as a catalyst or economic growth by increasing the extent of irrigated areas and therefore improving agricultural yields and crop diversity,” he said.
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