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Victor Maphosa
Mashonaland East Bureau
Villagers and small scale farmers who were affected when Muchekeranwa Dam was constructed in Marondera District will be prioritised in irrigation schemes to be set this year by Government, a senior official has said.
Muchekeranwa Dam which was commissioned last year by President Mnangagwa has the capacity of carrying 75 million cubic litres of water which can be used to irrigate about 2 250 ha of land.
Currently, the dam is full to capacity and is already spilling, due to heavy rains which were received. Already, plans are at an advanced stage to make use of the harvested water and transform the lives of the communities in Marondera district and those in Manicaland Province.
Mashonaland East Provincial Agritex officer Mr Leonard Munamati said those who were affected to pave way for the dam construction will benefit from irrigation schemes which are expected to be operational this year.
“All the villagers who were affected to pave way for the dam will benefit from the irrigation scheme which will be operational soon. We also have Marondera University of Science and Technology and as you can see, there are already two centre pivots which have the capacity to irrigate 200 ha and they are about 70 percent in terms of their installation and by April this year they would have completed and they will also start growing wheat this coming winter.
“We have also Machiki Irrigation Scheme, large scale commercial farmers who include Eldorado and Gwai farms who will also benefit from this dam. These have their irrigation equipment which they are currently using.
“In terms of progress since the dam was commissioned by President Mnangagwa, all the villagers who were affected due to the construction of this dam will benefit, I was talking to the relevant engineer and he said they are at the tendering stage and by March this year they will contract an organisation to install irrigation for the villagers.
“Then plan is to start with 70 ha under irrigation using a centre pivot and we will gradually increase the hectares to 200. There is also going to be an irrigation scheme targeting all the small scale farmers who were affected by this dam construction.”
Mr Munamati said they are encouraging all those who will benefit from the dam through irrigation schemes to practice horticulture.
“We encourage them to grow high value crops, horticulture. These crops include garlic, ginger and peas for export. We want them to grow food which they will eat at home and also that which will earn them some money through export.
“Let me also harness to say that this dam will not be used for irrigation purposes alone, when the President commissioned this dam, he also put some 11 000 fish so now we have a new department of Fisheries in our Ministry and those from that department will soon come here and conduct training sessions for villagers who want to do fish keeping so that they can also earn a living through that business.
“So this is the plan for this dam and we expect that this year all the farmers who were affected would be able to have their crops under irrigation.
“We want this dam to transform the lives of our farmers in this area. They should earn some money through agriculture. Therefore, we recommended that they should have a well organised committee which will assist them in their farming activities.”
Mr Munamati said besides agriculture, there are plans to make the dam and surrounding environs a tourist destination centre.
Mr Darlington Muzambi, a villager has this to say, “We are happy that this dam is in our community. This will surely create a lot of jobs especially for the youths. Our wish is that whatever initiative that is going to be done here should benefit the locals from this community, which were affected during the dam construction.
“However, we commend Government for this dam, we will utilise it to transform our lives,” he said.
Another villager, Mr Christopher Mungure welcomed the development.
“We want to thank Government for this dam. I was affected when this dam was constructed. At first there were plans to evict us to Chivhu, others to Mutoko but we appealed to the Government to just move us but not far from the dam so that we can also benefit, and the Government agreed.
“So this dam will benefit us and we will use it responsibly. Government promised us that we will have an irrigation scheme here and make use of this dam and we are told that anytime soon we will have it so we are happy as a community.
“Whatever the President says or declares will be fulfilled so we are thankful. We ask that the irrigation scheme to be done here as soon as possible while we are still young enough to put it to good use and transform our lives. We are ready to do agricultural activities here.”
Online Reporter