adminManicaland intends to increase its maize production for the coming planting season notwithstanding the normal to below normal rainfall predictions by the Met Department.
Freedom Mutanda
Farmers at Madzadza Irrigation Scheme in Chief Mutema area desperately wait for the rains as the river that supplies them with water, Tanganda, is almost dry due to streambank cultivation along the course of the once perennial river and they are threatened with starvation because for a long period of time, they staved off hunger by having two crops grown in the year.
A farmer, Solomon Ndunduma, bemoaned the imminent collapse of the scheme if stakeholders do not make concerted efforts to arrest the situation of siltation and drill boreholes.
‘’Life will be bitter for us if our source of livelihood dries up. For long, we have talked about the need for boreholes to be drilled or to have engines that would help us take water from the Save River. We understand that our Government is cash strapped but we still urge its arm, EMA (Environmental Management Agency) to make it a criminal offence to practise streambank cultivation.
“Inasmuch as we know that statutes are in place to conserve our water bodies, we feel that prosecution of offenders will go a long way in boosting food security in our area as we step up our efforts to feed the nation at Madzadza Irrigation Scheme,’’ he said.
Madzadza is a product of the land reform programme. Government resuscitated the scheme in 2006.
For more than 10 years, the small- scale farmers at the scheme fed Wards 3 and 5. Those people who pass by the popular Mikiri Bus Stop are happy that the scheme is alive and kicking. Passengers jostle to buy tomatoes and onions that the scheme cultivates.
All that will come to an end if the Tanganda River does not improve its water levels. Alternatively, plans that are afoot by a non-governmental organisation to drill boreholes may save the scheme from imminent collapse will save the farmers immensely.
A Geography expert, Clever Sigauke, noted that all stakeholders have to work together in order to save the local beneficiaries of the scheme but traditional leaders and the environmental health technicians must sensitise the people on the need to undertake environment friendly farming methods if the scheme is to serve its intended objectives.
‘’Yes, there is climate change but every member of the community must know that the future can only be better if we are environment friendly.
“Along the river, there are no more trees that are helpful in conserving moisture,’’ he noted.
When The Manica Post visited the Madzadza Irrigation Scheme, the parched fields told a thousand stories. No land prep was in evidence and that is bad news for the area which had weaned itself from over-reliance on the donor community for food aid.
Manicaland intends to increase its maize production for the coming planting season notwithstanding the normal to below normal rainfall predictions by the Met Department. It is in this context that villagers are wary of the dwindling water levels in Tanganda River that spell doom for the surrounding communities.
A farmer at Madzadza, Mrs Jane Munyokowere, lamented the situation. She said a lot of development- oriented programmes had to be put on hold due to lack of water for irrigation.
‘’I am worried about school fees for my children if things do not improve.
“It means I get an income once a year in August when we harvest beans. Before that, we had two crops but the water levels are proving to be an albatross over us. Hopefully, the powers that be would hammer a deal that would benefit all parties concerned,’’ she said.
Efforts to contact one Mayakayaka, the Agritex officer responsible for the scheme, were fruitless at the time of going to press.
One hopes that a solution to the water situation would be arrived at before it is too late. Meanwhile, the farmers wait for the rains to come and then they practise dryland farming.
The future of agriculture is irrigation bearing in mind the effects of climate change on weather patterns.
Online Reporter