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The scheme will cover 500 hectares as agreed in the Masvingo Provincial Irrigation Development Master Plan.
The scheme will draw water from the under-utilised Siya Dam, which bisects Bikita and Zaka districts.
Masvingo provincial administrator Mr Felix Chikovo yesterday said, “The initial phase in the development of the proposed scheme, which includes surveying of the proposed site, has already been completed and work should have been at an advanced stage had funds been made available.”
Masvingo’s provincial irrigation development committee has structures that cascade down to all the seven districts and is seized with spearheading irrigation development to improve food security.
Mr Chikovo attributed the slow pace in irrigation development to the shortage of funds and the harsh economic environment of the past decade.
The irrigation scheme will be partly sponsored by the Government through the Public Sector Investment Programme.
Masvingo Province can develop several irrigation facilities in the water-rich districts of Zaka, Mwenezi and Chivi.
These have huge dams that are not being fully exploited, though others have been watering sugarcane fields in the Lowveld.-Masvingo Bureau
Online Reporter