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Yeukai Karengezeka and Lesego Valela
In line with the National Development Strategy( NDS1), Government has started the process of formulating a National Soil and Water Conservation Policy that will guide the protection and management of water bodies and land.
The inaugural consultative workshop was held last Friday in Harare spearheaded by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development in partnership with Smallholder Irrigation Revatilisation Programme (SIRP) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The stakeholder consultations are expected to be conducted countrywide beginning this week.
The chief director of the Department of Engineering, Mechanisation and Soil Conservation in the ministry, Engineer
said the protection of land and its management was crucial.
“Government is transforming agriculture through land management. All stakeholders in the agriculture production have been invited to map a way and come up with a national policy on water and conservation policy,” he said.
Eng Zimhunga said the goal was to have a sustainable, resilient and diverse agriculture sector to ensure food and nutrition security.
The draft policy is expected to be completed by end of August 2023.
Other stakeholders that spoke to The Herald said the policy would go a long way in conserving land and water in the face of climate change.
“We are happy about this development which was long over due. The good thing is we reached a point where we say both water and soil need to be protected equally.
“We know that water is important. We have to play our part and harvest water which we then use for various purposes. Soil conservation should be looked into in terms of quality and land use practices. We hope to see students being trained to contribute to this through different projects,” Professor Hudson Makurira dean of the faculty of Engineering and Built Environment at the University of Zimbabwe.”
SIRP programmes coordinator said Mr Odreck Mukorera said the policy would change the trajectory of agriculture under irrigation schemes.
“The policy that Government is trying to develop is critical for the country and farmers as well. The policy will help us curtail losses that we are having in terms of water bodies which are important in climate-proofing our agriculture. Because we are developing irrigation schemes dependent on this water, we believe farmers should know measures to put in place when cultivating particular crops,” he said.
Mining, industrialisation, urban expansion, water pollution, are some of the activities through which land is being degraded. The damage caused on wetlands, stream bank cultivation and deforestation significantly contribute to the degradation.
The workshop was attended by stakeholders from officials in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, farmers’ unions, local authorities, engineers, academia, economists, Environmental Management Agency, Zimparks and development partners, the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Online Reporter