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Elton Manguwo
WITH climate change challenges not showing signs of abating any time soon, the Government’s Accelerated Irrigation Rehabilitation and Development plan looks set to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring the country’s aspirations to achieve food security transform into reality.
Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Dr Anxious Masuka said this in his speech on the occasion of the United Nations (UN) 2023 Water Conference in New York, United States of America. He observed that the Government had since adopted various strategies to ensure water availability plus the establishment of resilient agricultural systems.
“These strategies have now enabled Zimbabwe to become food secure again after decades of perennial food insecurity. This includes self-sufficiency in maize and wheat, the major staples,” he said.
The Government through various programmes is fast tracking irrigation development in a strategic move set to boost agricultural production.
“Our Accelerated Irrigation Rehabilitation and Development Plan targets to increase dam construction and area under irrigation by over 60 percent by 2025 in addition to adopting climate-proofed intensive conservation agriculture at the smallholder level,” said Dr Masuka.
In addition to pushing irrigation development, the Government is spearheading the construction of 12 high impact dams aimed at modernising the agricultural sector in line with establishing a modern, sustainable and climate smart agriculture sector.
“The Government is embarking on an ambitious water harnessing programme and we are constructing 12 major dam projects that will collectively hold 1, 9 billion mega litres and deliver hydro-electricity, harness potable water, fisheries and irrigation water for rural and urban development,” said Dr Masuka.
Climate change is worsening and intensifying water-related disasters, creating complex challenges and threatening lives and livelihoods particularly for the vulnerable.
“We launched a transformational borehole drilling programme whose objective is to drill a borehole in each of the country’s 35 000 villages and 9 600 rural schools,” said Dr Masuka explaining how this would ease access to water.
The Government in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recently held an Africa Regional Conference on Water to interrogate the catalytic role of the five accelerators of the Sustainable Development Goals 6 (SDG 6) namely financing, governance, data and information, capacity development and innovation.
“These accelerators safeguard performance of water in health, sustainable development, climate resilience and the benefitting sub-sectors,” said Dr Masuka.
The country has many water resources with an estimated potential to irrigate over two million hectares.
“To consolidate the gains achieved at the national level, we require urgent investment in innovation, increased financing, better governance as well as strengthening and collaboration for the management of transboundary water,” said Dr Masuka.
Online Reporter