Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]
GOVERNMENT has earmarked Garanyemba Dam in Gwanda District, Matabeleland South Province to support various local agricultural projects, with two hectares of land having been identified for an integrated community agribusiness hub under the Presidential Horticulture programme.
For years, the dam remained under-utilised and the project has ignited hope among the local community members.
The integrated community business hub will consist of solar-powered boreholes, water troughs, a fodder garden, village business unit gardens and weir dams.
President Mnangagwa launched the Sekusile Nutrition Garden in December 2022 in Makorokoro Village as part of the rural industrialisation programme. The project was launched as a model scheme, which will be replicated across the country’s 35 000 villages.
A villager from Garanyemba area, Ms Naledi Nare said the project will usher in a development era that will improve their livelihoods. “We are glad that our village has been selected to benefit from this project that will see Garanyemba Dam supporting several livelihood projects. This is a huge dam but it has been lying idle,” she said.
“We will now be able to operate gardens and the project will also support fodder production, which helps us to ensure that we have food for livestock.”
Garanyemba Village Head, Mr Jeffrey Dube said the integrated community agribusiness hub will help to alleviate poverty in the area. He said the project would create employment for women and youth.
“It has been difficult for villagers in Garanyemba area to establish gardens because of limited boreholes. Water can be extracted from the dam to support nutritional gardens,” he said.
Addressing Garanyemba villagers recently, Agriculture Advisory and Rural Development Services’ provincial deputy director for Matabeleland South, Mr Mkhunjulelwa Ndlovu said the project is expected to start soon.
“Matabeleland South has significantly benefitted from the Presidential Horticulture Programme and in a recent development, two hectares of land has been identified in Garanyemba area where an integrated community agribusiness hub will be established,” he said.
“The project will be supported by Garanyemba Dam. Solar-powered boreholes, water troughs, a fodder garden, village business unit gardens and weir dams will be established under the project.”
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister Davis Marapira said water sources should benefit livestock and support agricultural income-generating projects.
“We have a water source in Garanyemba Dam and it can be used to support various livelihood projects, which can assist in ensuring food and nutrition security. As Government, we want to see water bodies all over the country being put to good use,” he said.
In 2020, Government launched the National Horticulture Recovery and Growth Plan to stimulate both conventional and rural horticulture production, to accelerate domestic and export horticulture production, productivity and profitability.
It also focuses on value addition to contributing significantly to food security and nutrition, import substitution, foreign currency generation, employment creation and raising household incomes in pursuit of Vision 2030.
The Rural Horticulture Transformation Plan is anchored on the Presidential Horticulture Scheme, which seeks to create and sustain a US$1,2 billion rural horticulture economy by 2025. —@DubeMatutu.
Online Reporter