Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza, Zimpapers Reporter
FARMERS must take advantage of the abundant water supply that can be drawn from the country’s 10 000 large and small dams to support irrigation projects for increased crop, fodder and dairy production.
The remarks were made by the keynote speaker at the 2026 Farmers Indaba, Mr Mandla Nkomo, while addressing scores of farmers and stakeholders in the agricultural industry at the Bulawayo Agricultural Society (BAS) members’ pavilion on Monday.
The indaba seeks to find solutions to some of the challenges that the local agricultural sector is facing such as harnessing water for improved productivity, seeking out opportunities for value addition and maximising productivity on farms, plots and communal land.
Mr Nkomo is the chief executive officer of Global Agri Food Authority with a 25-year career in the African agri-food sector.
“Zimbabwe’s irrigation opportunity is far larger than current performance suggests as the 2024 Irrigation Investment Prospectus states that the country has a projected irrigation potential of 2.2 million hectares from the more than 10 600 dams and water bodies in the country.
“It also identifies 245 043 hectares across eight provinces as ready for immediate irrigation investment at an estimated US$1.9 billion and notes that the country needs to raise irrigated maize area from around 75 000 hectares to 350 000 hectares, with a projected 1.8 million tonnes of maize in summer and at least 1.4 million tonnes of wheat in winter under expanded irrigation,” said Mr Nkomo.
Mr Nkomo said Zimbabwe has a substantial base of dams, including many small water bodies that farmers can take into for increased productivity.
“The dams database shows that roughly 9 818 dams in the Agritex (Agricultural, Technical and Extension Services) areas with a large number spread across communal and mixed farming landscapes. This is critical because it means irrigation is not only a mega-project story but is also a small- dam productivity story,” he said.
He said without year-round fodder and reliable water extraction, the majority of the country’s smallholder dairy farmers will struggle to increase productivity.
“When small dams support irrigated fodder, milk supply becomes more stable and the collection of the product from farmers improves,”
