From lemons to lemonade:Semi-arid Lupane turned into productive agriculture land

WHEN the British settlers colonised Zimbabwe, they pushed the indigenous Africans out of their productive land and resettled them in what later became known as reserves where the land was infertile.

One such reserve is Lupane, in Matabeleland North which has Kalahari sands.

For years, villagers in the areas such as Mpofu have worked hard on the land but their yields remained poor.

According to agronomists, Kalahari sands have low soil fertility and low moisture-holding capacity.

As the adage goes, turning lemon into lemonade, the Second Republic is transforming the fortunes of these communities that colonialists had condemned to abject poverty while using them as cheap labour.

A thriving irrigation project has been established at Bubi-Lupane Irrigation Scheme situated in Mpofu village with the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) managing the project.

Matabeleland North Agricultural Advisory and Rural Development Services (ARDAS) acting provincial director Mr Dumisani Nyoni said the soils were not suitable for crop production.

“When the white settlers colonised the country they took over fertile land and pushed Africans to barren land such as what is found in Lupane. Infact 70 percent of the land in Matabeleland North is Kalahari sands. Kalahari soils have low soil fertility and low moisture-holding capacity,” said Mr Nyoni.

He said the soils drain easily and as such cannot retain moisture.

“When it rains and even when irrigating, leaching is a big challenge. Farmers growing crops in such soils need to improve soil fertility, starting with ensuring they have the right soil PH,” said Mr Nyoni.

He said what this means is that communities in Matabeleland region have to work on improving soil fetility which at times might require a lot of resources.

Mr Nyoni said what is encouraging is that Government is committing a lot of resources to turn what used to be ‘reserves for labour’ into green belts through science-led agriculture.

“The Second Republic is saying it is leaving no one and no place behind. Bubi-Lupane has water so what we have to address is the soil fertility so that we realise high yields. We should take advantage of this water to grow crops round the year,” said Mr Nyoni.

ARDA chief executive officer Mr Tinotenda Mhiko said innovations and research has driven the transformation of the Bubi-Lupane Irrigation Scheme into a commercially viable scheme.

“From the research and innovations that we have done, we are slowly changing the narrative. The soils at Bubi-Lupane are Kalahari sands and they are deficient in nutrition,” he said.

Mr Mhiko said they had to commit resources to improve soil fertility hence the scheme is realising high yields.

“Farming is a business and its the science that informs business so we had to address the issue of soil fertility in order to get good returns,” he said.

Mr Mhiko said they had to do the soil survey, sampling and analysis to fnd out suitable crops to grow.

He said the company had to adopt zero tillage as part of measures to maximise output.

“These areas that were reserves for labour, are being transformed into greenbelts because of the irrigation schemes that are being established. We had a good wheat harvest and I can produdly say we have changed these farmers from subsistence farmers to commercial farmers,” said Mr Mhiko.

He said management of irrigation schemes is critical hence ARDA had deployed estate managers to run the schemes.

Members of the irrigation scheme said growing high value crops like wheat had transformed their livelihoods.

Ms Josephine Mpala (71) said she has lived in Lupane her entire life and never dreamt being a successful farmer.

She was reluctant to join the irrigation at its inception as she adopted a wait and see attitude.

“We didn’t know that there was money here. We are reminded of Dr Joshua Nkomo’s popular saying that ‘nxa ufuna imali lima’,” said Ms Mpala.

She said she realised she had missed out when she saw members of thes scheme being paid huge dividends after their harvest in 2021.

“I used to rely on cooking and selling isitshwala for a living and I was not interested in joining the irrigation scheme. However, when they produced their wheat in 2021, I counted the trucks that collected the wheat and there were 11,” she said.

Ms Mpala said she later realised that the future was in farming at the irrigation scheme.

“I stopped cooking and selling isitshwala and came here to look for a job. I have managed to buy cement for bricks and I am yet to start building my house. I’m still mobilising resources and since we are delivering to the Grain Marketing Board soon, I know I will be able to build my house,” she said.

Ms Mpala said she is now able to buy groceries and pay fees for her orphaned grandchild.

Bubi-Lupane Irrigation Scheme chairperson Mr Gerald Khumalo said the scheme started with 45 members and due to its success story the number increased to 90.

“We have just completed harvesting 150 tonnes which was unheard of. There is a major difference from what we were getting in our fields. We are not just farming but also learning the best agronomic practices and producing good yields. We want to thank President Mnangagwa for transforming our lives,” he said.

-@nqotshili