Irrigation the answer

Sarudzai Mupangi and Stanley Mushava
CHENJERAI TEKESHE wakes up before dawn, the time elephants normally bathe, and heads for the characteristic rocky and dry land in tinder dry Buhera.
Here, geography cuts a stark contrast with the rich and fruitful soils in many other parts of Zimbabwe.
Intermittent droughts, erratic rainfall patterns, poor soils and general poverty have left villagers in Buhera teetering on the brink of starvation, year in, year out.

Tekeshe lights his way with a torch as he beats other villagers in collecting baobab fruit, mawuyu, the family’s next meal. The torch is handy not just to find fruit, but for safety. Villagers have come across knots of snakes, in the wee hours as they coil to beat the pre-dawn cold. Some villagers have fallen victim to snake bites.

Predatory hyenas have also been on the prowl and only the brave ones wake up this early.
The pressure is solely on Tekeshe since hyenas are wreaking havoc in Buhera and women and children cannot risk going out in the dark.
Looking for the wild fruit has become a difficult task because of the rising demand due to food shortages.

The area has gone through consecutive years of drought leaving the communities with barely anything to eat.
The rains come and go early while they are not enough for agricultural production while the most viable option is growing small grains.
However, produce from the previous harvests have not been sufficient to sustain the people until the following seasons.

Mr Tekeshe knows his family will be waiting for food so he has to do the gathering quickly so that his wife prepares a special porridge using the wild fruit in time before hunger affects the children.

They live one day at a time.
“We only have sadza once a day and we have since downsized our portions so that our mealie-meal lasts longer. The women make the sadza thinner than usual,” Mr Tekeshe said.

“Without having sadza it is hard to get sleep so we eat it in the evenings and by the time people wake up they will be very hungry. Maybe it is because we worry too much about not having enough.

“I am glad our story is going to change, by this time next year hunger will be a thing of the past because Government has resuscitated the Ponda Irrigation Scheme to complement Devule which catered for a small catchment area. Nenhowe and Nyanyadzi are being revived as well. Many of us are going to benefit.”

At least 5 400 villagers in Bonda community, Buhera South, will benefit from the ongoing resuscitation of irrigation schemes in the area.
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Deputy Minister David Marapira recently handed over two, 260kW intake pumps to Arex in Birchenough for Bonda farmers.

Nenhowe and Nyanyadzi irrigation schemes, which went obsolete over 15 years ago, also received intake pumps as a hunger-busting mechanism for the drought prone areas in Manicaland.

Development supervisor of the Bonda Irrigation Scheme Mr Jesto Manenge told The Herald that the revival of the scheme was a timely initiative to mitigate hunger in the area.

“Drought has been in the region over the recent years. Villagers in Buhera have not realised significant produce since 2008,” Manenge said.
“The revival of the scheme means the community will no longer depend on handouts as farmers have a catchment of 910 families,” he said.
The scheme’s chairperson, Mr Oswell Madudze, said: “The pumps we received are more advanced than the ones we had previously. Each pump draws 1 000 litres per minute and can propel water 70 metres upwards which is a bonus because the highest target is 26 metres.
“It takes eight hours for both machines to fill Bonda Dam from the river. Once the dam is filled to 100 000 cubic litres capacity it can be used for three days,” Manenge said.

The irrigation scheme will service 364 hectares, while a further 246 hectares are yet to be utilised.
The catchment area can service 900 families with an average of six members each.

Following up Government efforts to alleviate hunger in the constituency, Buhera South legislator Cde Joseph Chinotimba launched a pro-poor food scheme dubbed “Zunde raMP.”

The scheme has benefited 364 farmers in Bonda who received 10kg maize seed each under the arrangement that they will give back 50kg of a potential two tonne produce to the less privileged.

Pump Systems Africa, a private contractor, is working on the rehabilitation of the irrigation schemes that have been affected by a combination of negatives such as obsolete related breakdowns, uninhibited siltation and vandalism of pipes canals.
The pumps for Nyanyadzi, Nenhowe and Bonde irrigation scheme have been sourced at US$800 000.

The irrigation schemes are expected to assist more than 700 farmers who have been wallowing in poverty for the past                                     decade.
“The people are starving and most of them are surviving on baobab porridge. While the rest of the country has moved forward, people in Buhera are still stuck in 2008,” Cde Chinotimba said.

“The worst affected are the elderly, widows and orphans who cannot fend for themselves. It is these people we are reaching out to.
“We are saying to farmers we give you the seed and you give back only one bag of maize per farmer to the disadvantaged.
Cde Chinotimba also told the beneficiaries to be innovative.

“No beast grazes for an idle one. You cannot continue to live on handouts forever. We have given you the means to help subsist as a community.

“We will continue sourcing more seed and fertiliser but you must honour these efforts by working hard to fight hunger in the region,” he said.

Chief Elijah Chamutsa hailed the Zunda raMP initiative as a creative response to drought which more MPs across the nation must consider adopting.

A farmer in the area, Mr Christopher Makaripe, hailed Cde Chinotimba for complementing Government efforts to fight poverty in the communities.

“We are determined as farmers to take advantage of such incentives to enhance production and contribute our part in alleviating hunger.”
Reed Star Milling Company directors Dr Zulfiqar Sarfraz and Mr Akram Rana and marketing manager Innocent Munaye also attended the Zunde raMP launch where they donated a bag of flour per senior citizen.

Mr Lazurus Nyangani (69), one of the beneficiaries, said the resuscitation of the irrigation schemes together with the Zunde raMP initiatives would go a long way in ensuring that communities do not depend on non-governmental organisations.

“If people are to get donations it has to in the form of infrastructure, since it is a long term benefit. We were tired of hearing stories that some non-governmental organisations have been politicising food handouts,” Mr Nyangani said.

“Our MP is a visionary leader who has done many things for his people in a short space of time. We hope nothing will stop him from doing good for us in the next five years.”

Midlands, Masvingo and some parts of Manicaland among other provinces have been experiencing drought-inflicted poverty while irrigation equipment lay idle.

The resuscitation of irrigation schemes would see the burden of food shortages ease.
The rehabilitation of dams and revival of irrigation schemes would see Zimbabwe back on its path to becoming the breadbasket of the continent.