peter
Bruce Ndlovu,Sunday News Reporter
AFTER falling on hard times in the last few years, the Valley Irrigation Scheme in Donkwe-Donkwe area of Kezi in Matabeleland South is now on the rebound, with farmers in the area hailing the Smallholder Irrigation Revitalisation Programme (SIRP) for giving the scheme, which at its peak churned out over 1 200 tonnes of maize each season as well as various other crops, a new lease of life just in the nick of time.
The irrigation scheme, which stands on 200 hectares and has over 400 plot holders, has seen the revitalisation of key farming infrastructure and equipment courtesy of SIRP, while employment levels are also soaring in the area as locals have been made an integral part of the infrastructure revival process.
SIRP, a programme funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and the Government of Zimbabwe, is a programme whose objective is to decrease vulnerability of smallholder farmers to food and nutrition insecurity, climate change effects and economic shocks.
In addition, the programme is supporting the development of agricultural and rural development in the country through irrigation revitalisation and projects meant to build resilience of smallholder farmers.
SIRP is implemented by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. The lead implementing agents are the Department of Irrigation Development and AGRITEX.
SIRP implementation is coordinated by a Programme Coordination Unit (PCU) established under the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement.
In an interview with Sunday News, the Agritex extension officer in the area, Ms Landeni Mhlophe, said repair work on key infrastructure such as pivots and sprinklers was in progress, with the process set to be completed by January.
“The irrigation scheme is being revived as part of SIRP, which is a project being spearheaded by the Department of Irrigation. The irrigation scheme was facing problems and they have stepped in, replacing things like hose pipes and doing work on the operating system. So far, they are working on the 40-hectare pivot which was left incomplete in 2015. Farmers are very grateful for that and it will be a major help in their operations going forward. All of the work is expected to be completed by January. One challenge that farmers were also facing was electricity and hopefully that will also be attended to in due course,” she said.
Ms Mhlophe said besides infrastructural repair work on the scheme, once known as the pride of Kezi, had eased unemployment in the area, as locals are part of the teams that are revamping critical infrastructure.
In addition, there is gender parity in terms of the allocation of jobs.
“The people in the area are very happy because we the people from SIRP are not bringing in anyone from the outside to work but instead they are employing local people. Instead, they only import technical expertise and this has meant that everyone has welcomed the efforts to revive the scheme because it is helping us uplift our unemployed youths who are no longer just sitting on their hands but can now also see progress in their lives.
“In addition to that, there has been no discrimination when it comes to the employment of either men or women. Both sexes are getting an equal opportunity to work on this and that is a major advantage because in some cases, people are given the impression that there’s division between male and female labour which usually ends up being to the disadvantage of women but it is not so in this case,” she said.
Since its inception in 1997 the irrigation scheme managed to provide some relief to more than 400 plot-holders and provided some hope of food security to the villagers and a greenbelt in a low rainfall area in the Agro-Natural Region Five.
A farmer who is a part of the scheme, Ms Gertrude Ndlovu, said they welcomed the intervention efforts to restore the scheme to its former glory.
“We were having challenges with our sprinklers and our pivots which have been troubling us for a while but we are happy that a new programme in this area, SIRP is now intervening. The channels through which water travels were now also giving us headaches but we are also happy that the mechanisation programme is also intervening and they have started pegging around the area to resolve the issue as we speak.
“Another thing that has been troubling us mostly around here is electricity supply. As you can hear, everything right now is quiet and our plants were last watered by rain. It’s been a few days since we had supply and if it continues our crops will be in trouble. That has been the major obstacle that we have faced but all in all, we are happy that our irrigation scheme is now back on track,” she said.
Another farmer, Ms Sibonokuhle Sibanda said it was their fervent hope that electricity supply could be improved so the scheme could once again operate at full throttle.
“We were hoping that we can get generators to help us because we have come a long way with this irrigation scheme and it has done wonders in our lives through the years. For example, I have been with the scheme since 1997 so I have seen all the ups and downs. It is very encouraging to see the Government throw its weight behind our efforts because it shows that our hard work and desire to feed ourselves and our families without any handouts is valued,” she said.
derick.khumalo