daniel chigunwe
Tawanda Mudimu
Photojournalist and Documentary Photographer
Dozens of young women, clutching yellow pockets of butter-nut, stride down a footpath, slicing through densely leaved heads of cabbages and fresh market cultivars of tomato fields in Umguza district, in the southern part of Matabeleland North province.
As we head towards the group, a medium height, bearded man appeared from behind, greeted us with a raspy and a welcoming voice.
“I thought money will kill me today,” he said staring at the delegation.
Literally, Mr Johnson Zivengwa thought the visitors were customers that would give him brisk business.
He is one of the beneficiaries of the Government-funded Epping Forest and Nyamandlovu water projects and is renting a four-hectare plot from a local farmer.
“I have benefited from President Mnangagwa’s water project. Now I can irrigate my crops using drip irrigation. I used to struggle to do one hectare but with the intervention of the Second Republic, I and many other farmers have been empowered.
“We no longer experience breakdowns as was the case before the water project. I can afford to have a good sleep,” said Mr Zivengwa.
He grows horticulture crops – potatoes, tomatoes, butternut, okra and cabbages and sells them to the local community of Nyamandlovu and Bulawayo City market.
Mr Zivengwa said the challenge in the district was power outages, mostly due to vandalism.
“Vandalism is rife here. Sometimes we can spend four to five days without electricity. Thieves are taking advantage of the dense forest, to steal transformers thereby sabotaging farmers and the Government.
“I am also appealing for a bigger area to farm. I want to increase my hectarage so I can contribute towards national food and nutrition security. If I can get about eight to 10 hectares, I would be happy. I also want to diversify into other crops such as maize,” he said.
His wife, Mrs Rebecca Liyani, said they have been at the plot since 2015, adding that land was important as it “connects us to our ancestors, our ancestors had the power to this forest. I feel honoured with the wildlife abounding this forest, songs through trees and the nature,” she said.
Livestock farmer, Mr Lovemore Dube said he used to experience challenges accessing water for his cattle and would drive them for longer distances in search of water sources.
“We thank the Government through Zinwa for this facility as our cattle now have water nearby and we are targeting to expand our horticulture projects in this area,” he said.
Zinwa team leader responsible for Nyamandlovu Aquifer and Epping Forest, Engineer Manyeka, said the whole system was powered by electricity. “Vandalism of Zesa infrastructure is the main challenge.
Every borehole is powered by Zesa and theft of transformers, oil, fuse links and conductors, is letting us down.
“Currently there are 14 boreholes which are not functional. We do not have any other power source except Zesa. Without power, there is no pumping. There is need for tight security to safeguard the electricity infrastructure,” he said.
Epping Forest and Nyamandlovu Aquifer are borehole projects funded by the Government to improve the water situation in Bulawayo and support farmers with irrigation.
Online Reporter