(SUNDAY MAIL ZW) Editorial Comment: Silence please, Team Zanu-PF is at work!
Sunday, 15 September 2013 08:57
After about four years, when MDC puppets got the rare opportunity to mix with revolutionaries in Zanu-PF but messed the opportunity to grow politically, Zimbabwe is once again back on its ideological feet with Team Zanu-PF already delivering on its election promises contained in the party’s manifesto.
And Zimbabweans are loving every bit of it with indications that the country is poised for unprecedented economic growth in the medium to long-term as Team Zanu-PF rolls out people-oriented policies and programmes that won it the mandate to govern Zimbabwe for the next five years.
Just last Wednesday, President Mugabe set up a formidable Cabinet team comprising ministers with vast experience in implementing Government policies and the so-called Young Turks who will bring with them lots of energy to even things. Zimbabweans are ready for the ride and Team Zanu-PF seems equal to the task.
While Team Zanu-PF is oiling its machine for economic take-off, the puppets were celebrating their defeat in Mutare yesterday in a move that the Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Professor Moyo said makes them right candidates for Ingutsheni Mental Hospital in Bulawayo. How does one celebrate defeat? This is a first but this coming from the MDC-T is not a surprise because their being puppets is descriptive enough of what to expect from them.
The MDC-T secretary general, the beleaguered Tendai Biti who still doesn’t know what exactly hit his party said the crushing defeat to Zanu-PF had reduced them to “zombies.” Well, is there much difference between a zombie and a puppet? Don’t they belong to the same category? Anyway, we won’t waste our precious time dwelling too much on bankrupt losers as there is so much that Team Zanu-PF has to offer and is already delivering to the people.
As Team Zanu-PF gets into motion, one of the first casualties has been the European Union which has been ripped apart by developments in Zimbabwe with Belgium coming out into the open saying the illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation should be lifted.
Belgian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Hendrik van de Velde said the EU had agreed that they would lift the sanctions if Sadc and the AU declare the July 31 elections as free and fair.
Sadc and the AU went on to declare the elections as free and fair after President Mugabe garnered over 61 percent of the presidential vote while Zanu-PF got an overwhelming two-thirds majority in Parliament.
After this crushing victory, Belgium which is home to Antwerp, the world’s leading diamond trading hub is demanding that the EU sticks to its agreement to lift the sanctions but other countries led by Britain are refusing to do as agreed. Well, Britain and its allies can continue dreaming but what is obvious is that its a matter of time before they are left alone to lick their regime change wounds.
While the US continues to fight Britain’s fight, Sadc and Africa have taken a position to defend Zimbabwe and with the whole continent supporting us, we really don’t care a hoot what Obama and his handlers think. Zimbabweans will determine their destiny and Africa will be there to lean on.
What is really making efforts by Britain and America futile is the fact that the country’s diamonds are projected to dominate the global market in the next five years with reports that production from other players is dwindling fast.
It is estimated that Zimbabwe will earn about US$700 million from the sale of the precious stone with a record 17 million carats set to be produced from Marange.
These statistics were released in a report by Companies Diamond Industry Series last month who went on to project that Zimbabwe will satisfy about 30 percent of the global market by 2015.
Well, President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameroon can continue playing politics but soon businesspeople from their country will realise that they are being used in a game that they will never win. When politics clash with business, we want to see who will remain with lots of egg on the face because we know who calls the shots in these two countries.
Already, Hilton Worldwide, the leading American hotel group has taken the lead and is planning to build an upmarket hotel and business complex in Harare. This is despite the illegal sanctions and despite all the anti-Zimbabwe propaganda in the Western media. Last week, a leading British newspaper, the Financial Times gave Mr Cameron some piece of advice saying it was time for the UK to engage President Mugabe as the regime change plot agenda continues to go off-rail.
While the country’s diamonds are becoming a global game changer, the country’s tourism sector is on the rebound with reports from the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority saying the country recorded a 12 percent increase in tourist arrivals in the first half of the year, registering 859 995 visitors compared to 767 393 during the same time last year. Tourists are finding Zimbabwe irresistible despite all the travel warnings that are meant to scare them away from the country. Just as they were instructed by President Mugabe, Cabinet ministers drawn from Team Zanu-PF, have hit the ground running with the Minister of Industry and Commerce Cde Mike Bimha saying his ministry’s top priority would be to mobilise funds to revive the country’s distressed industries.
The Minister of Finance, Cde Patrick Chinamasa has already outlined Government’s preoccupation for the next five years which is spurring economic growth and increasing indigenous participation in the mainstream economy.
On the other hand, the Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Professor Jonathan Moyo has promised the country new radio and television stations, a move that is set to be welcomed by many Zimbabweans.
In a welcome development, farmers have hailed the re-appointment of Dr Joseph Made to the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation saying this would ensure continuity in the ministry. Already Dr Made has met officials from the World Bank to map the way forward for the country’s agricultural sector.
The Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Cde Walter Chidhakwa said there is need to promote value addition to the country’s minerals adding that there is need to create employment opportunities and increase foreign exchange inflows to feed into the balance of payment support.
Without wasting time, the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate Cde Saviour Kasukuwere has declared war on poachers while the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Cde Nicholas Goche has become a darling of civil servants as he has said Government will prioritise their welfare and conditions of service. Cde Goche said his ministry would soon implement strategies in line with the Zanu-PF manifesto to cushion the government workers.
On the other hand, Team Zanu-PF has kept its promise by making sure that water and electricity bills dating back to 2009 are scrapped while residents who were on the verge of losing their houses due to debts have also been rescued.
Regarding the drought issue, Government has already started importing grain from Zambia to feed people in drought-hit areas with reports that about 3 000 metric tonnes have already been delivered. More grain is on the way. Well, Team Zanu-PF is clearly showing why it won the elections and as the team rolls out its policies and programmes, it is important for Zimbabweans, especially civil servants not to make unrealistic demands that will upset the economy.
Team Zanu-PF has shown that it is ready to work for the people and with the people and its now up to Zimbabweans to remember the words by former US president John F Kennedy that “ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.”
http://www.sundaymail.co.zw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37891:new-irrigation-technology-draws-attention-at-agricultural-show&catid=47:agriculture&Itemid=139
(SUNDAY MAIL ZW) New irrigation technology draws attention at agricultural show
Sunday, 01 September 2013 04:35
Emilia Zindi
A new irrigation system that allows farmers to use less labour as well as affordable equipment proved popular at the Harare Agricultural Show. Farmers who thronged the Zeriv Rain Systems stand expressed their interest in the cost-saving initiative.
Theft of irrigation equipment on the farms, especially aluminium pipes, sprinklers and taps, is a serious problem facing farmers.
The aluminium pipes have been commonly used in making aluminium kitchen utensils. The new technology that uses “spray guns” is so efficient that the guns vary in the radius they cover per minute.
The aluminium pipes have been commonly used in making aluminium kitchen utensils.
Explaining how this system works the company’s chief executive, Mr Lovejoy Gumbochuma, said the 100-metre radius guns can irrigate four hectares per hour compared to the current system where more than 60 pipes and 52 sprinklers are required.
“In 48 hours one would have covered 50 hectares,’’ said Mr Gumbochuma.
He said the new system also required less manpower with only one person needed to move the “gun” from one point to the other unlike the use of pipes where more than three people are required to carry the pipes.
Farmers interviewed yesterday appreciated the new system, saying this would save money as well as reduce electricity bills as more ground would be covered in a short time.
Labels: IRRIGATION, LOVEJOY GUMBOCHUMA, ZANU-PF
Read more...
(SUNDAY MAIL ZW) New irrigation technology draws attention at agricultural show
Sunday, 01 September 2013 04:35
Emilia Zindi
A new irrigation system that allows farmers to use less labour as well as affordable equipment proved popular at the Harare Agricultural Show. Farmers who thronged the Zeriv Rain Systems stand expressed their interest in the cost-saving initiative.
Theft of irrigation equipment on the farms, especially aluminium pipes, sprinklers and taps, is a serious problem facing farmers.
The aluminium pipes have been commonly used in making aluminium kitchen utensils.
The new technology that uses “spray guns” is so efficient that the guns vary in the radius they cover per minute.
The aluminium pipes have been commonly used in making aluminium kitchen utensils.
Explaining how this system works the company’s chief executive, Mr Lovejoy Gumbochuma, said the 100-metre radius guns can irrigate four hectares per hour compared to the current system where more than 60 pipes and 52 sprinklers are required.
“In 48 hours one would have covered 50 hectares,’’ said Mr Gumbochuma.
He said the new system also required less manpower with only one person needed to move the “gun” from one point to the other unlike the use of pipes where more than three people are required to carry the pipes.
Farmers interviewed yesterday appreciated the new system, saying this would save money as well as reduce electricity bills as more ground would be covered in a short time.
Labels: IRRIGATION
Read more...
ZCF calls for increased investment in small-scale irrigation
By Chimwemwe Kasanje
Tue 13 Aug. 2013, 14:00 CAT
THE government should intensify providing affordable irrigation equipment for small and medium-scale farmers, says Zambia Co-operatives Federation.
ZCF director general James Chirwa said irrigation farming among small and medium-scale farmers would increase productivity as cropping would be done more than once a year.
Chirwa said farmers across the country were faced with a challenge of low yield and food insecurity whenever there was poor rainfall in a particular cropping season.
"For us in the cooperative movement, we feel irrigation farming among our farmers is a solution to high crop production and this directly increases incomes at household level and reduces poverty," Chirwa said in an interview.
Chirwa said farmers needed more of perennial cropping activities that could be enhanced by irrigation farming methods than the Farmer Input Support Programme.
He said the government needed to channel funds from FISP to give soft loans to small and medium-scale farmers to acquire affordable irrigation equipments like water pumps.
Chirwa cited irregularities relating to the FISP administration amounting to K14.16 million in 2011 revealed in the Auditor General's report as funds that could have been prudently utilised in the area of irrigation farming.
The Auditor General's report exposed corruption in the issuance of FISP packs to unqualified recipients across the country, costing Zambia resources that could benefit the agriculture sector.
Labels: IRRIGATION, JAMES CHIRWA, ZCF
Read more...
(NYASATIMES MW) Africans vulnerable to climate change due dependency on rain-fed agriculture- Malawi Minister
By Nyasa Times Reporter
July 23, 2013
Malawi Minister of Environment and Climate Change Management Halima Daudi has attributed East and Southern Africans vulnerability to climate change to heavy dependence on rain-fed subsistence agriculture for livelihoods and on wood energy for cooking and heating.
The Minister made the remarks at the Southern Voices on Climate Change, East and Southern Africa Regional workshop being held at Sunbird Nkopola Lodge in Mangochi on Tuesday when she officially opened the workshop which ends Thursday.
The theme of the workshop is Linking local experiences with policy processes in climate change.
“It is therefore pleasing to note that this workshop will focus on adaptation, sustainable energy and community forestry all of which are critical in reducing the vulnerability of our communities to the impacts of climate change,” stated Daudi.
Minister Daudi with workshop participants in Mangochi on Tuesday
Minister Daudi with workshop participants in Mangochi on Tuesday
Daudi told delegates from nine countries attending the workshop that the Malawi Government is committed to the fight against climate change saying there are several steps undertaken in the management at policy and local level.
Participants to the workshop have been drawn from Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia.
To show Malawi’s commitment to fight climate change, Daudi said Malawi has developed the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) whose implementation is underway adding that Malawi has also formed the National Technical Committee on Climate Change which provides technical oversight to the implementation of national programmes and initiatives.
“Currently the Government of Malawi is developing a National Climate Change Policy and a National Climate Change Investment Plan to guide effectiveness to climate change in Malawi. Plans are also underway to develop a National Adaptation Plan as a framework for addressing medium to long term adaptation needs of our country.
Secretary General of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (Pacja) Mithika Mwenda said Africa is confronted by climate change which is threatening livelihoods of many people.
“Millions are suffering in silence. Wells are drying up. About 250 million Africans will be exposed to water stress by 2020. Agricultural production will shrink by 50 percent,” said Mwenda.
Chairperson of the civil society network on climate change in Malawi Melton Luhanga thanked Pacja for mobilizing and financing participation of delegates at the workshop which is aimed at bridging the gap between local experiences and policy.
Outlining the objectives, Luhanga said the workshop will enhance participants understanding of the links between policy and advocacy and community level activities; share experiences and lessons and identify opportunities from adaptation, sustainable energy and community forestry in relation to policy and planning in the region.
“This is the reason we have brought climate change and environmental practitioners from nine countries of East and Southern Africa to share knowledge, experiences and ideas.
Climate change focal person and Dan Church Aid representative Agnes Nyirenda said since the failure of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate change talks to reach an ambitious global climate agreement at COP15 in Copenhagen, in Denmark southern civil society organisations and networks have continued to mobilise and increase their efforts to generate greater stronger attention and influence climate negotiations and policies at the internal level and increasingly also at national level.
She said a consortium of five Danish and two international non-governmental organisations established after the COP15 are supporting the Southern Voices on Climate Change Programme, coordinated by CARE Denmark.
She said the regional workshop will be a success and will contribute to the agenda of southern voices which is promoting environmental integrity and sustainable development that benefits poor and vulnerable people.
“We believe that in working together in solidarity there is power and we can positively change the world and our communities,” concluded Nyirenda.
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE, IRRIGATION, NGOs
Read more...
COMMENT - Ignore the neoliberal 'we can't wait for the government' spin, and the fact is that irrigation is they key to consistency in agricultural output for Zimbabwe and Southern Africa, and that small on-farm ponds are the way to go. Ignore the fake concerns about 'holes in the landscape'.
Esigodini ignores govt, digs own ‘dams’
03/03/2013 00:00:00
by Alertnet
FOR the smallholder farmers in arid Esigodini, just south of Bulawayo, the heavy downpours that have hit the area in recent months have been a godsend. "We have not seen this much rain in years," said farmer Brenda Zulu.
The rains first came in January, destroying homes and claiming lives as people were caught unawares. But farmers struggling to grow crops and raise livestock in the traditionally low-rainfall area surrounding Zimbabwe's second-largest city realised that if they could find a way to harness the deluge, they could use it to help their thirsty farms. So the villagers grouped together and started digging.
"It was a community suggestion that we dig the earth to trap the water," said Zulu as she scooped water from an artificial pond her community created. The size of a small tennis court, the pond now serves as a reservoir for scores of farms in the area.
She uses the water to water her kitchen garden and fill a trough for her small herd of livestock. "It seems to be helping a lot," she said.
Nobody knows exactly how much water the makeshift ponds hold, but Zulu said her communities believes theirs should have enough to sustain their small farms for the next few months.
With no access to groundwater and no sign of help from the local authorities
That would be the MDC - MrK
to deal with worsening shortages, Zulu and her fellow villagers feel that making their own ponds could be the only answer.
"It was already a depressed gulley and we extended it as no one seems to offer solutions for our water problems," she said. "We did this ourselves."
Flood then drought
For the farmers in Esigodini, who have experienced successive years of drought, building a lake was an act of desperation, driven by the fear of not knowing when, or how much, rain will next fall.
But experts say Zimbabweans can learn to adapt to changing and increasingly severe weather patterns.
Sobona Mtisi, a climate change researcher with the Overseas Development Institute, a London-based research group, said rainfall in Zimbabwe does appear to follow a pattern.
By understanding that pattern, people should be able to prepare for the droughts and floods that have been afflicting the country, Mtisi said.
"Most villagers in the flood-prone areas are aware of the fact that in the past few decades the frequency and intensity of floods has been increasing," Mtisi said.
"Similarly, policymakers are aware of the increased frequency of droughts and floods in Zimbabwe."
From 2000 to 2010, Zimbabwe had four floods, the researcher said.
"This means that we have a flood (on average) every 2.5 years," he says.
"The evidence which should form the basis for communities and policymakers to understand the shifts in climate is there and irrefutable."
But until someone figures out how to use that evidence to help Zimbabwe's smallholder farmers deal with the cycle of drought and flood, they will look for ways to help themselves - such as digging ponds and lakes.
"We have to find ways to trap the water not just with our small buckets," said Sithabile Fuzwayo, another Esigodini smallholder. "Water is a serious problem and as long no one comes along to help, we will seek our own solutions."
Rainwater harvesting is nothing new among many communities in Zimbabwe, but it is usually done using small containers that are inadequate to meet longer-term needs of farmers.
The act of investing labour into digging the ground to trap the coming rain is an innovative step — one that more famers might decide they have to take.
Own solutions
Despite the heavy downpours this season in normally low-rainfall areas around Bulawayo, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) says not enough of the water has made it into supply dams, due to blockages in drainage systems.
For farmers like Zulu, Fuzwayo and others, efforts to trap the water themselves seem the only viable solution. Some environmentalists, however, warn that hand-dug rainwater harvesting ponds could potentially create long-term risks.
"It shows just how poorly the rain problem has been dealt with at local levels, in ways that could in fact bring catastrophic results," warned Gilmore Sithole, an environmentalist and agricultural extension officer with the country’s agriculture ministry.
"We just cannot have people digging up the ground without proper monitoring. We have to imagine what kind of gaping holes will be left in the countryside when the dry season sets in."
But like other farmers, Zulu isn't thinking about the long-term risks of her pond. Her main concern is having enough water to keep her garden and livestock alive.
According to the Zimbabwe Meteorological Services Department, the wet spell in the traditionally dry parts of the country's south is expected to continue into March.
This is the time when farmers should be preparing to harvest, and the continuing rainfall could damage crops. But that is a risk the farmers are willing to take if it means the chance to trap more water — and feel a little less helpless in the face of Zimbabwe's unpredictable weather.
"We no longer have any knowledge of the rain cycle," Zulu said. "But we welcome all the rain we can get."
Labels: DAMS, IRRIGATION, RAINFALL
Read more...
Dam for Mhondoro
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00
Farai Kuvirimirwa Herald Reporter
Zimplats is on course to complete a dam built at a cost of more than US$10 million that will serve as an irrigation and recreational facility in Silver Star resettlement area in Mhondoro. Island or Chitsuwa Dam was constructed under the infrastructural development project.
It is located five kilometres from Turf Village in Mhondoro. Speaking during a media tour, Mhondoro-Ngezi rural district council chief executive Mr Andrew Mawonde said the dam would greatly assist the Mhondoro community on completion.
“The community will benefit from irrigation schemes, recreational facilities and being a tourist area, will give some people employment.
“The dam will market the district at large and a lot of activities will take place after we create stands for lodges and fisheries and boat cruises to some extent,” Mr Mawonde said.
Community spokesperson Mr Davison Chimusoro said the dam construction had created employment for the local people.
“We are satisfied since our children have been employed since its construction.
“We expect to benefit through irrigation, fishing and we expect that our livestock will get water from the dam,” he said.
Construction site manager Mr Tendai Mhangwa said the Island/ Chitsuwa Dam would be the biggest masonry arch dam in the country.
“The dam will be split into the North and South dams which will have 30 560 megalitres of water.”
Labels: DAMS, IRRIGATION
Read more...
Invest in irrigation, says Mujuru
Sunday, 23 December 2012 22:54
Agriculture Reporter
Vice President Joice Mujuru has implored Dotito farmers to invest in irrigation equipment to counter the effects of climate change. She said through irrigation, farmers would be assured of household and national food security.
In a speech read on her behalf by Mashonaland Central Governor Martin Dinha at the commissioning of the Dotito Drip Irrigation Scheme, VP Mujuru said climate change had affected farming seasons and led to consecutive droughts. A local company, Pedstock, donated the five-hectare drip irrigation equipment.
“We can increase food production through irrigation. Irrigation also enables farmers to harvest rainwater and use it later to produce food,” she said.
VP Mujuru said it was disturbing for a society to depend on donors for food.
“Farmers should move away from subsistence to commercial production. A farmer should produce enough to feed the family and ensure there is surplus to sell,” she said.
VP Mujuru expressed concern over farmers’ shift from food crops to tobacco farming.
She discouraged farmers in the area from totally switching off from food to cash crops such as tobacco, which was highly paying.
“Mashonaland Central province is a major tobacco producer but there is a need to also produce food and reduce hunger in the area.”
VP Mujuru advised the farmers to add value to their crops by processing them to at least the next line from raw products.
She said it was disheartening that there were lots of fruits in the area, which were rotting yet farmers could produce some juice and increase income.
VP Mujuru congratulated Dotito District for taking heed of President Mugabe’s advice of investing in irrigation and water harvesting.
“You have become the first district to launch an irrigation scheme soon after the Zanu-PF’s annual national people’s conference,” she said.
Mt Darwin North Member of Parliament, Cde Dickson Mafios, bemoaned the absence of funding for small-scale farmers.
Cde Mafios said there was a need for loan facilities that did not require farmers to produce collateral security.
“We have faith that the irrigation scheme will empower members and boost household food security,” he said.
Mt Darwin is rated fourth among hunger-stricken districts in the province according to the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee.
The main advantage of the drip irrigation method is being able to water plants using a small amount of water delivered through pressurised pipes and drippers and it reduces moisture stress.
One of the most important aspects of this method is that the watered zone is only along the plant line, leaving the rest of the field dry, thus using the least amount of water possible.
Labels: IRRIGATION, JOICE MUJURU
Read more...
Water harvesting offers farmers hope
Sunday, 23 December 2012 21:03
Jeffrey Gogo - Climate Story
CLIMATE change has greatly increased rainfall and water variability worldwide. Now that’s more than just a wake-up call for Zimbabwean farmers and communities to take water harvesting seriously.
The thin infrastructure that exists in some parts of the country to capture rainwater and store it for future use should be urgently strengthened and new ones established in areas that need them most.
Zimbabwe now needs new innovative approaches to agriculture, which are climate smart.
Indeed, water harvesting is nothing new.
If anything, it’s an age-old practice. But what makes it more important today is its ability to neutralise the severe water stress levels generated by a changing climate and its pivotal role in the food-water nexus.
Well-structured and co-ordinated water harvesting strategies would be critical in building drought resilience and enhancing capacity for climate change adaptation for poor rural farming communities.
This is very crucial particularly in the country’s drought-prone and water-scarce ecological regions four and five, that’s the whole of Matabeleland North and South provinces, large parts of the Midlands and Masvingo, and some areas in the north and north-east.
These areas, which represent over 60 percent of all state land are typically high temperature, low-rainfall regions receiving below 600mm rain per year and experiencing more frequent, severe droughts.
Recent studies predict both region four and five will become drier, more arid and have already expanded 5,6 percent and 22,6 percent respectively, which is essentially an expansion into hunger.
Yet, the main food-producing ecological regions two and three have declined by 49 percent and 13 percent in that order.
The statistics point to a possible reduction in food production and, therefore, a threat to food security. The Midlands State University researchers said the shifting in the natural regions’ boundaries “strongly points to evidence of climate variability and change”.
This is where water harvesting comes in, and more so given UN forecasts two-thirds of the world population will experience significantly reduced access to water resources by 2025.
Over time, techniques for collecting rain-water have vastly changed, allowing for large-scale water accumulation and storage for various purposes including drinking, irrigated farming and for livestock.
It is very possible and practical for farmers to capture water and store it for different uses in the future.
Rain may be collected from rooftops, run-offs or in open spaces, capturing drop for drop, as it falls from the sky.
Storage can be in large surface or underground tanks, mini-dams even, emphasising the facilities minimise pollution and evaporation.
The larger projects could be capital intensive meaning Zimbabwe may have to cast its net wider searching for development finance.
“The rainwater collected can be stored for direct use or can be recharged into the groundwater,” explained the National Water Harvesters Network, an India-based international network that addresses global water issues.
“Rain is the first form of water that we know in the hydrological cycle, hence is a primary source of water for us.
“Rivers, lakes and groundwater are all secondary sources of water. In present times, we depend entirely on such secondary sources of water.
“In the process, it is forgotten that rain is the ultimate source that feeds all these secondary sources and remain ignorant of its value.”
The network says water harvesting means to understand the value of rain, and to make optimum use of the rainwater at the place where it falls. However, Harare agri-business development expert Mr Midway Bhunu decried the lack of Government support in establishing management and development frameworks that cushion farmers and communities from the effects of declining water resources caused by climate change.
“While water harvesting is a very noble idea and feasible in Zimbabwe, there is a lack of support at national level towards such projects that help communities to make good use of rainwater.
“In Zimbabwe success stories of water harvesting are very few. We need to change our response rate to issues concerning climate change,” Mr Bhunu said.
Water harvesting is just one of the many strategies that could be employed in building climate resilient communities.
Encouraging farmers to plant drought-resistant crop varieties is an equally important response.
This may be aided by transforming climate data into usable formats for policymakers and individual farmers.
Farmers now require much more than the usual monotonous “below to normal rainfall” sermons regularly churned out by the weather-man or woman.
They need timely and frequent weather and climate information that is specific to their farming regions, which would aide in planting, planning and other agricultural work.
In East Africa, the Kenya Rainwater Association, supported by the African Water Facility, is implementing a pilot programme aimed at increasing drought resilience and climate change adaptation, using integrated rainwater harvesting management.
Targeting three districts — Baringo, Kiambu West and Laikipia — the programme is expected to bolster water harvesting infrastructure development, use complementary water harvesting technologies to improve livelihoods and generate income, and encourage knowledge sharing among community members.
More specifically, the project will raise awareness on rainwater harvesting techniques, promote improved water management models, use watershed conservation, install water tanks and promote good hygiene practices.
Mobilising and applying resources for the water and sanitation sector would be critical for African countries in the successful implementation of the Africa Water
Vision (2025) and in meeting the Millennium Development Goals.
Zimbabwe can learn from similar projects.
God is faithful.
* Feedback: jeffgogo@gmail.com
Labels: AGRICULTURE, IRRIGATION
Read more...
COMMENT - Irrigation is the key to yield and multiple harvests per year in most of Southern Africa. For small on-farm projects, check out this concept, of Geoff Lawton's
Permaculture Water Harvesting on Youtube.
'Farmer-led irrigation schemes can transform food security'
By Gift Chanda
Fri 28 Sep. 2012, 12:40 CAT
FARMER-LED irrigation schemes could transform food security in Zambia, a new study has revealed.
According to a report titled 'Water for wealth and food security: Supporting farmer-driven investments in agricultural water management' released by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), expanding the use of on-farm water management techniques could increase yields up to 300 per cent in some cases, and add tens of billions of US dollars to household revenues across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Researchers looked at these trends in six countries, including Zambia.
"Water is critical for agricultural growth and improved livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa," according to Dr Timothy Williams, IWMI's director for Africa.
"Agriculture provides food and employment for a large segment of the population in sub-Saharan Africa and inadequate access increases their vulnerability to food insecurity."
The report unearthed for the first time the scale at which enterprising smallholder farmers themselves are driving this revolution by using their own resources innovatively rather than waiting for water to be delivered.
The assessment quantified the potential reach and possible additional household revenue for a number of different on-farm and local community water solutions.
In Zambia, for instance, opportunities for individual smallholder operations were identified.
At a 50 per cent adoption rate for small motorised pumps by rural households in potential areas, an estimated 268,000 households could benefit, translating into the utilisation of 214,000 hectares of land.
At the same rate of adoption and utilising dambos (wetlands) for rice cultivation, 70,000 smallholder households could benefit and render about 105,000 hectares of land productive.
"Here in Zambia, much is already happening," said Kenneth Chelemu of IDE, an organisation dedicated to creating income and livelihood opportunities for poor rural households, who coordinated the initiative in Zambia.
"It is difficult for many smallholder farmers to find the money to invest in better water management practices on their farms. However, a few have begun to see the benefits as they access loans from the few micro-financing institutions like Cetzam and VisionFund - who have recently developed agro-loan products encouraging investment in water management solutions."
Chelemu said there was need to support and invest in this entrepreneurial spirit and help develop market access and better value chains for small-scale farmers.
Water is a major constraint on food production for millions of smallholder farmers not only in Zambia, the report stated, adding that: "While water resources are often sufficient, farmers lack the means to harvest it, which limits crop production to the rainy season and diminishes income opportunities."
Of sub-Saharan Africa's abundant renewable water resources, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported that only three per cent are withdrawn for agriculture.
Approximately four percent of arable land is equipped for irrigation, of which less than six per cent is serviced by groundwater.
Experts believe improving water management capabilities could unleash smallholder farming and it could become a major driver of economic growth, poverty reduction and food security.
Labels: IRRIGATION
Read more...
US$375m for Kunzvi Dam secured
Thursday, 19 July 2012 00:00
Michael Chideme Municipal Reporter
WATER woes for Harare and surrounding areas will soon be a thing of the past after Kunzvi Water Development Corporation secured US$375 million to build Kunzvi Dam. The construction of the dam is expected to begin late this year and end in 2015.
Vinci of France and Group Five of South Africa have been engaged as the major contractors.
The two contractors, together with Locan Holdings (local), Development Bank of Southern Africa, Bigen (South Africa), Okada (Nigeria) and Swede Water, form the funding partners.
But Water Resources Development and Management Minister Sipepa Nkomo said he was not aware of the developments.
“Kunzvi Dam is a project for the private sector and maybe they could have sourced the money, but I am not aware of this,” he said.
If the dam is finally built, Kunzvi water is likely to be cheaper for residents and the city because it needs fewer water treatment chemicals.
Presently, the city uses up to eight chemicals to treat its water because it is heavily polluted.
KWDC chairman Mr John Mapondera confirmed on Wednesday that the loan had been secured and that world-renowned contractors have been engaged.
Officials from Group Five were part of the delegation that toured the dam site on Tuesday.
“The time has come for the construction of the dam. The project cannot be postponed any longer,” he said.
Mr Mapondera was giving a progress briefing to journalists after a tour of the dam site.
He said the identification of access routes from the Musami-Marondera road to the dam wall was in progress.
The actual construction of the road begins next month.
Mr Mapondera said finalisation of the Built-Own-Operate-Transfer agreement was in progress and once completed the funding would be released.
KWDC will operate the dam and its ancillary facilities for 30 years during which period it is expected to recover its investment before ceding the dam to Government.
Water from the dam is expected to supply Harare, Ruwa, Arcturus Mine, Chitungwiza and Juru Growth Point.
Integritas from Zimbabwe, Bigen and Brian Colquhoun (Zimbabwe) are the project engineers.
Mr Mapondera said he would work with Harare City Council to ensure that its water reticulation was upgraded to avoid wastage of treated water due to leaks and broken-down pipes.
Harare and its satellite towns currently draw water from the Manyame catchment area.
The estimated 4 percent yield of the four dams on the Manyame River, which are Seke, Harava, Chivero and Manyame, is 487 million litres a day. The city recycles 198 million litres of sewer effluent, bringing the total available for treatment to 685 million litres a day.
This is against a water demand of 1 200 million litres a day and a production capacity of 620 million litres.
Engineer Elijah Chifamba of Integritas said the Manyame catchment reached its supply limit in 1997 hence the need for Kunzvi.
He said the inclusion of Musami Dam, to be built 15km from the Kunzvi project, would help “wipe the current supply deficit”.
He said the Kunzvi project comprises the dam, raw water pump station, raw water transmission main, water treatment works, water reservoirs and a 14 00ha irrigation project.
The Kunzvi project has had many false starts. Timelines have been given before but nothing has materialised.
Labels: DAMS, IRRIGATION, MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT
Read more...
Irrigation set to boost smallholder farmer capacity
Friday, 13 July 2012 11:42
Agriculture Reporter
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made, recently met the
Israeli ambassador for Africa, Mr Dan Shaham, to discuss ways of boosting the irrigation sector. Minister Made said the revival of the irrigation sector was expected to boost the capacity of smallholder farmers.
He said the two parties have been working together in the agriculture sector and this led to the establishment of several institutions related to the irrigation sector. These include the Irrigation Centre at the Institute of Agriculture Engineering and Mechanisation among others.
“The ambassador visited the Irrigation Centre on Tuesday and has seen the state-of-the-art machinery. We have agreed to re-establish the Irrigation Centre, which is very important in training personnel from Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi among other Southern African countries,” said Minister Made.
He said a regional irrigation company, Netafim, would also help the centre through the replacement of computers at the institution.
“We are grateful to experts who are going to work with a local irrigation company, Pedstock, in irrigation re-establishment,” said Minister Made.
The two parties will sign a Memorandum of Understanding soon, which is being drafted. The signing of other agreements at business level will follow the MoU. The meeting also discussed other areas of development and co-operation in the agriculture sector, including mechanisation.
“Israel is a leader in uplifting smallholder farmers from subsistence to commercial level and we are going to use the same system,” said Minister Made. “We are also interested in phytosanitary matters.”
Minister Made said although irrigation development was important, there was need to look at plant and animal diseases that may come with it. Zimbabwe and Israel will also co-operate in the control of animal diseases.
“Israel leads in dairy production and has worked in China, Kenya and Botswana,” said Minister Made.
“We are happy that we are going to strengthen the capacity of our scientists in extension, training and research.”
Ambassador Shaham said the meeting was fruitful. “We have reached a concrete level. We spoke to professionals and got suggestions on how we can help the small holder farmers through irrigation system,” he said.
Labels: IRRIGATION, ISRAEL, JOSEPH MADE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE)
Read more...
Irrigation scheme seeks US$10m for canal
Tuesday, 08 May 2012 00:03
Masvingo Bureau
The Mushandike Irrigation Scheme Farmers’ Trust is seeking over US$10 million to resuscitate the 1 000 hectare irrigation scheme. The money will also help in building a water conveyance canal that will link the scheme with Muzhwi Dam in Chirumhanzu.
Spreading over 900ha, Mushandike irrigation scheme has been affected by a severe shortage of water blamed on incessant siltation of Mushandike Dam. Irrigated crops at the scheme, that has
1 000 plot-holders, have been wilting due to lack of water.
Mushandike Irrigation Scheme Farmers’ Trust patron Mr Rogers Matsikidze said the estimated 40km-canal will bring an end the water woes that have been stifling operations at the scheme. He said feasibility studies for the building of the canal have already been completed.
“One of the major problems affecting operations at Mushandike Scheme is lack of water so we hope the canal will draw water from Muzhwi into Mushandike so that the 1 000 plot holders can overcome perennial water problems that have seen crops wilting due to shortage of water.”
Labels: AGRICULTURE, DAMS, IRRIGATION
Read more...
COMMENT - I don't like the general non-committal tone of the article, but perhaps to be expected from someone in the aid/development industry, who has to appease a lot of governments. Clearly though, the less of agriculture is rainfed, the greater the yields are going to be, including having multiple harvests. I would suggest looking into small on-farm irrigation. I suggest looking into
PA Yeomans Keyline Design, and
Drought: Zimbabwe needs new agro model
02/05/2012 00:00:00
by Tafirenyika Makunike
I HAVE the privilege of writing from Zimbabwe where I am spending a couple of days. Once you have survived the Animal Farm chaos of entering the country through BeitBridge, you can really have an exciting and memorable visit.
If half our politicians just experienced a quarter of what the rest of us have to endure just to get into the country through the BeitBridge border post, then all the border issues would have been solved long time ago.
I have always wondered how many visitors just stay away from Zimbabwe because they cannot endure BeitBridge border. It is in this vain that I welcome a suggestion by Mthuli Ncube of the African Development Bank that BeitBridge should be converted into one-stop border post.
The country is still pregnant with opportunities whose gestation period is being lengthened by our collective hesitancy to bite the bullet and do what needs to be done. The country is still largely a tale of two groups of people – a large mass of “have-nots” at the bottom and the few privileged haves perched at the top with a sprinkling of some “desire to have” in the middle.
Those with the “desire to have” can transverse the divide between them and the haves, once they identify and exploit a particular opportunity. If they fail, then they slide down to the large pool of “have nots”.
The financial survival of most of the “have nots”, largely located in the rural areas, is inextricably linked to the rainfall patterns of the area. I went through my own village where I grew up and for probably the third year in a row, they are going to harvest absolutely nothing again but not for lack of trying though. They may even be the unintended victims of climate change, a phenomenon they neither know about, nor did they participate in causing.
Every year, they have dutifully put their seeds to the ground, weeded the young crop, even applied fertiliser but while they were waiting for the bumper harvest the rains disappeared. When you do the maths of all the finances that these villagers put to the ground with no return, it is absolutely devastating.
There is no human being anywhere in the world who is wired for handouts. Receiving handouts year-in year-out does terrible things to their self-esteem. Much of these rural villages enter that period which Charles Mungoshi euphemistically called "waiting for the rain" prone to repeat the same vicious cycle if the rain decides to show up in October, disappearing in early January.
There is need for us as a country to develop a sustainable rural-based model that would reduce the reliance on the pattern of rainfall. Unfortunately, our politicians' eyes are now firmly focussed on the next election which may or may not happen in 2012 or 2013.
While I do believe in the value of democratic elections, I do not buy the notion that it will answer all our socio-economic maladies. We need more innovative national thinking that transcends short term elections focussed on delivering a better life for those still trapped in the ‘have not’ cycle.
[Well the MDC and their DeBeers-ocracy is not. - MrK]
We now have a number of universities packed with the cream of our national intelligentsia, but what we require from them is the conversion of theoretical knowledge into applied knowledge for the upliftment of our country.
I have had the benefit of doing some work in a number of agro-based regions of South Africa and I have observed that much of their agriculture is not a direct function of the rainfall pattern. It is more directly correlated to the irrigation infrastructure. Building dams is indeed a good start but it is not the end.
[Investigate the term 'small water', as opposed to the big irrigation projects that were so popular in the 1950s. - MrK]
The village I come from has benefitted from a new dam build across the Mpudzi River. Apart from the boon for those of us who enjoy bass fishing, there is no harvesting of this water resource for cropping purposes currently happening. Once a dam is built, there is need to deliver the water affordably to the cropping fields.
If you are not in Nyanyadzi, Chakohwa or many areas of the Lowveld where water can just be delivered to the fields through gravity, then you require energy to deliver the water.
[Or on-farm water storage through small water projects. This also has the benefit of only storing water that is needed on a per farm basis, instead of creating giant lakes that rob the surrounding areas of water. - MrK]
The Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project – long mooted – is not just a romantic pipe dream but a sustainable agricultural model which could green a large part of our dry lands resulting in improved livelihoods.
If we added an additional 3000MW of power generation capacity, our growing economy could consume this added capacity in less than ten years. This national planning requires futuristic thinking going beyond the horizon of the next election.
Energy costs money which must be paid for in one way or another. Unfortunately, when it comes to paying for energy, our political leaders are terrible examples. The government is unable to provide the funds for the huge infrastructural gap that exists in the agro-industries space. There is need for massive incentives to entice the private sector to bring to invest in this space.
Contrary to widely-held perceptions, rural people are quite amenable to change once the benefits are clearly understood and explained. It is not that the “have nots” are not willing to work for improving their lives. All they require is guidance to move from just working hard to working smarter and harder.
For sustainable livelihoods in rural areas, we need our intelligentsia to assist in adoption of innovation from land preparation, planting of seeds, crop care to harvest. There is ample opportunities for further innovation from post-harvest handling, logistical arrangements for delivering the harvest in time, right quality and price to the appropriate market.
We can excel as a nation in this field when we plan, allocate resources, and act with the long term goal in mind.
Tafirenyika L. Makunike is the chairman and founder of Nepachem cc (www.nepachem.co.za), an enterprise development and consulting company. He writes in his personal capacity
Labels: IRRIGATION
Read more...
Farmers start harvesting irrigated tobacco
Friday, 23 December 2011 00:00
Some farmers with irrigated tobacco have started harvesting and curing their crop at a time when those on rain fed farms are still planting. About 22 000 hectares have been put under tobacco this year out of a target of 70 000 with planting still underway.
At least 11 000 hectares of the planted area is under irrigation compared to 13 000 hectares last year. More than 65 000 farmers registered to grow the crop in the 2011/12 cropping season compared to 52 000 the previous year.
Traditionally, tobacco planting officially ends on December 31.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union vice president Ms Mayideyi Maswi said the late onset of rains had delayed the maturity of the crop.
"Tobacco farmers in traditional growing areas with irrigated crop have started harvesting and curing the golden leaf for the past three weeks," she said.
"These areas include some parts in the Mashonaland East, Central and West provinces," she said.
Zimbabwe expects to produce about 150 million kg of the golden leaf next year, 12 percent higher than 132 million kg produced in the past year. Ms Maswi said that while some farmers were already harvesting their crop, others were still planting.
"It's mixed fortunes, some farmers are harvesting while others are planting or one farmer is doing both," Ms Maswi said.
Zimbabwe Farmers' Union director Mr Paul Zakariya confirmed that irrigated crop had done very well and some farmers were already harvesting.
"The irrigated crop shows a success story mainly due to experience gained by the farmers now," he said.
Mr Zakariya said the liquidity crunch being experienced in the country was likely to affect production, as many farmers did not have adequate labour due to lack of funds.
China is the biggest buyer of Zimbabwean tobacco including cigarettes, importing a total of 33,8 million kg worth US$245 million while the United Arab Emirates and South Africa were the second largest taking 12, 5 million and 12, 7 million kg respectively.
- New Ziana.
Labels: CHINA, IRRIGATION, PAUL ZAKARIYA, TOBACCO
Read more...
Villagers seek US$10 million to revitalise irrigation scheme
Friday, 16 December 2011 00:00
Masvingo Bureau
VILLAGERS in Charumbira communal lands in Masvingo are appealing to Government to provide US$10 million for the rehabilitation of a heavily silted dam that supplies water to Mushandike Irrigation Scheme.
At least 1 000 plotholders at the irrigation scheme, which was established soon after independence, were recently left in limbo after Mushandike Dam virtually dried up owing to accumulation of silt.
Besides the excessive siltation of Mushandike Dam along Mushandike River, water conveyance infrastructure at the irrigation scheme is in a dilapidated state.
Most canals have broken down resulting in the loss of water before it reaches the fields.
The irrigation scheme is also the only source of food security in Masvingo district.
"We appeal to the powers that be to do something urgently because there is no future for us anymore as we used to rely on this irrigation project in terms of food security,'' said Mrs Emma Mashawi from Village 13 in Mushandike.
Another plotholder at the scheme, Mr Andrew Matehwe from Village 14, said the collapse of Mushandike Irrigation Scheme would leave the area without any economic activity.
"Our lives have always revolved around this irrigation scheme and its demise is really a sad development,'' he said.
Chief Fortune Charumbira said Mushandike had always been the lifeblood of people in Charumbira communal lands not only as a source of food security, but also economically.
"Villagers used to sell their crops, supplying even Masvingo City with green produce to get money for school fees and other things; so there is really great need to keep the irrigation scheme in a good working state,'' he said.
Masvingo Rural District Council chairman Mr Clemence Makwarimba said the collapse of Mushandike Irrigation Scheme would be a disaster in Masvingo district.
He appealed to the Government to urgently provide funding for irrigation scheme to save it from total collapse.
Labels: IRRIGATION, MASVINGO
Read more...
Debt stalls work at Chigaro irrigation scheme
Friday, 02 December 2011 00:00
Chinhoyi Bureau
A crippling US$7 000 debt and broken-down irrigation infrastructure has stalled work at the Chigaro Irrigation Scheme in the Makonde district of Mashonaland West Province. This has put in jeopardy the livelihoods of at least 54 families.
At its peak the project, which draws water from Mupfure River, used to supply the nearby St Rupert Hospital and the local communities with vegetables including tomatoes, legumes and maize among other crops. In an interview recently, Agritex officer Mr Benonia Makainganwa said the project was a source of livelihood for many families.
Its resuscitation, he said, would go a long way in boosting improving lives of people in the area.
"We have had the combined misfortune of crops being destroyed by elephants that follow the Mupfure River from Zambezi Valley and also a huge bill from Zesa that has seen power being disconnected," he said.
At a recent meeting organised by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, villagers said an unjustified bill from Zesa worsened their woes.
The project, which was started in 1996, accumulated charges of about US$7 000 leading to disconnections.
Local Member of House of Assembly Cde Ray Kapesa said talks were at an advanced stage to bring on board donors willing to fund the project's resuscitation.
Marauding elephants have pulled down the security fence and destroyed crops while pumps have been removed for safekeeping.
"We are interested in making sure that this project is put back on track because we see that it is benefiting a lot of our people," said Cde Kapesa.
"There are contacts with a number of people who have expressed interest in partnering the people so that the project gets off the ground."
Cde Kapesa said funding would be sourced to erect a perimeter fence and upgrade the irrigation infrastructure while part of the money from the Constituency Development Fund would go towards upgrading the project.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, IRRIGATION
Read more...
11 000ha of tobacco put under irrigation
Friday, 25 November 2011 00:00
At least 11 000 hectares of irrigable land has so far been put under tobacco for this agricultural season, an official said on Wednesday. Last season, 52 000 farmers registered to produce tobacco on 65 000 hectares, 13 000 hectares of which was under irrigation.
Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) chief executive officer Dr Andrew Matibiri told New Ziana much of the crop would be planted as soon as the country began receiving rains. "Most of the planting will start this week since the country has begun receiving rains," he said.
The bulk of Zimbabwe's tobacco is grown under rainfed agriculture.
Tobacco farming has attracted more farmers in the past two years due to the multiple currencies.
Analysts have tipped tobacco production to increase on the back of attractive prices and orderly marketing. Zimbabwe is the world's sixth largest exporter of the flue-cured Virginia tobacco after Brazil, India, the United States, Argentina and Tanzania.
More than 120 million kilogrammes of tobacco were sold last season with the contract system contributing the bulk of the sales.
The country is determined to return to the peak production levels of more than 200 million kg reached in the late 1990s before Western countries imposed economic sanctions which saw most sectors going on a free fall. Last season the industry had projected an output of 77 million kilogrammes to go under the hammer but this was later revised twice, first to 93 million kg and then 114 million kg.
An estimated 250 000 people are directly employed in the production of tobacco.
- New Ziana.
Labels: ANDREW MATIBIRI, IRRIGATION, TOBACCO
Read more...
Kunzvi Dam contractors put together funds
Monday, 24 October 2011 00:00
PRIVATE contractors engaged by Government last year to construct Kunzvi Dam and its associated waterworks and pipeline have almost finished putting together the funds, a Cabinet minister has said.
The Zimbabwe Government concluded a US$370 million Public-Private Partnership last December with a consortium of local, regional and international companies to construct the dam, which should ease Harare's water shortages and balance the supplies since Kunzvi water will enter the city in the northeast, the area furthest from the present entry points in the south west and south.
A special purpose vehicle, Kunzvi Water Development Corporation was established to implement the project under a Build-Operate-Transfer arrangement.
The corporation includes Government, Locan Holdings, Swede Water Limited, Okada Group from Nigeria and Vince Group of France.
Bigen Africa Consulting Engineers, BKS Group and Dycon from South Africa are the technical partners.
The engineering and financial advisory team consists of CBZ Bank Limited, Brian Colquhoun, SDP Africa, Deloitte and Finesse Financial Services.
Water Resources Development and Management Minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo said progress in pulling together financial resources had been made.
"Contrary to reports that contractors had pulled out, we are still in discussions with the same people we were talking to last year. No one has pulled out," he said.
"We are satisfied that progress is there. They are almost there with regards to putting together their funding."
Minister Nkomo however, could not give timelines on when construction would begin since there were still issues that needed to be sorted out.
"Besides the funding issue, there are other major things we have to solve before construction can begin. We have to resolve the distribution of the water for Harare, Chitungwiza and Norton," he said.
The project is estimated to cost at least US$370 million, of which US$70 million is for the construction of the dam and the other US$300 million for pump stations, reservoirs, water treatment works, conveyance and connections to the existing City of Harare network.
The Kunzvi Dam site is located 67km north east of Harare near Juru Growth Point damming the Nyaguwi River.
Plans to construct Kunzvi Dam, which when complete will carry 158.4 million cubic metres and produce 250 000 cubic metres of water daily, were mooted 30 years ago but have been hampered by lack of funding.
While Harare, thanks to recycling of treated waste water back to its supply dams, has enjoyed adequate raw water supplies for several years now, the treatment works, last extended in the early 1990s, are inadequate to supply the city and its satellite towns at full demand.
A second major deficiency has been the fact that treated water has to be pumped uphill to the city, with the pipelines entering the city in the south-west.
Shortages have usually meant that those areas furthest from the entry point, the north-eastern, eastern and northern suburbs, are short most of the time.
The west-east pipeline is inadequate to move enough water across the city, even if the Morton Jaffray Waterworks could supply enough.
The Kunzvi Dam and waterworks will not only be on an entirely different river system to the Manyame River, the present source of all city water, but will be on the opposite side of the city to the main Manyame dams.
With the Kunzvi works operational, city water managers will have more than 700 000 cubic metres a day to supply consumers, with the main pipelines entering the city to the south-west and north-east.
This will allow both better supplies and easier supplies, since the double entry points should reduce the amount of intermediate pumping required to reach any suburb.
Planners have stressed in the past that the city and its surrounding towns will continue to have an integrated supply network, so that in an emergency all areas can receive at least partial supplies from just one of the main pipelines, and that all available treated water will be regarded as belonging to a single pool.
But the engineering problems will be considerably easier to solve when water is fed into the extreme opposite ends of the city from two major sources. --- New Ziana, Herald Reporter.
Labels: DAMS, IRRIGATION
Read more...
US ambassador admits Zim agricultural sector’s potential
Friday, 16 September 2011 02:00
Agriculture Reporter
UNITED States Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Charles Ray recently admitted that Zimbabwe's agriculture sector had "unlimited potential for growth" and was poised to witness a "quantum growth" in the next decade if farmers got the necessary support.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting with Zimbabwe's Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made to which he had accompanied the incoming USAid Mission Director, Melissa Williams, Ambassador Ray said the current climate problems were the biggest undoing to the sector.
"This makes it necessary for developmental efforts to focus on revitalising the irrigation capacity of the country to mitigate the effects of drought. Once agricultural productivity is re-invigorated, the other sectors of Zimbabwe's economy will start operating viably while farmers can also practice crop diversity and even value addition," said Ambassador Ray.
He said he had in the past season been assisting smallholder farmers doing agricultural projects in the country's rural areas with a view of increasing productivity and consequently food security.
"Last season alone we funded small projects across the country to the tune of US$300 000 while we started off with 45 000 beneficiaries, a number that later rose to 120 000.
"We are looking forward to an increase in the number of households as well as the funding this season," he added.
In expressing his appreciation, Minister Made also added that Zimbabwe and the US were to sign four agreements to enable USAid to mobilise resources for more projects to help poor rural households.
"Under the arrangement, farmers with the potential to produce surplus will also be assisted so that they produce in excess to boost food reserves and at the same time make available raw materials for
the manufacturing and processing industries.
"The funding will not be free but on loan basis. Some of the farmers may even be asked to make down payments for the loans before they can access them," Minister Made said.
Prior to meeting US ambassador, Minister Made had also met the First Secretary at the Embassy of India, Mr Mukesh Kumar who revealed that his country would be sending 33 companies to Africa under the India-Africa forum to explore ways of co-operation with African business companies.
The Indian delegation will be in Botswana from 18-19 September 2011, then Zimbabwe from 19-20 and finally South Africa from 21-22. This is a follow up to the invitation the Indian Prime Minister extended to African governments to start business partnerships with companies from his country.
The companies will seek partnerships in sectors of mining, agriculture and manufacturing among others.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, CHARLES RAY, IRRIGATION, JOSEPH MADE, MELISSA WILLIAMS, SABOTAGE
Read more...
Oasis in the heart of Mberengwa
Saturday, 10 September 2011 23:36 Agriculture
By Emilia Zindi recently in Mberengwa
MBERENGWA district is a drought-prone area. In previous dry seasons, when temperatures soared and the land was parched, animals and villagers alike panted for water, hoping every drop they found would sustain them for another day.
But December 2010 changed this story of despair. Like industrious ants labouring for a common cause, 35 families under Chief Maziwofa’s realm teamed up to construct a dam. Today, the area is indeed an oasis in the heart of dryness as the villagers now harvest fresh produce from a thriving irrigation scheme.
“This area is prone to drought. As you can see, the rivers are all dry,” said Mr Misheck Maidza, a beneficiary.
“The situation was desperate, but life has changed since the construction of the dam.”
The Musuki Irrigation Scheme covers an area of 10 hectares. The villagers came together to clear a bushy area where they constructed the dam with the assistance of a non-governmental organisation.
There is no trace of the drought of previous seasons. The wide variety of crops grown at the scheme bears testimony to the community’s sheer determination to change its dire circumstances.
From a position of disadvantage, the villagers are now empowered and are able to pay their children’s school fees, purchase household goods and provide for their respective families.
Mr Tendai Machokoto said: “We spend the whole day working here. We only go home after all the work is done.”
Each family has 60 beds on the plot where different crops such as tomatoes, cabbages, onions, and maize are grown.
Individuals are free to sell their produce and pocket the money, but when there is an outbreak of a disease, the villagers pool their resources.
“Under such circumstances, we contribute money to buy the chemicals so that the whole area is sprayed to prevent the spread of the disease,’’ said another beneficiary, Mrs Toendepi Kazunga.
The scheme is unique, as it is not powered by electricity. The dam was constructed on a gradient to allow the free flow of water into canals that feed into the nearby gardens.
A non-governmental organisation chipped in with resources such as cement for the construction of the canals and toilets.
The system allows water to flow from the dam down into the canals.
Interestingly, the villagers have not bothered to use artificial fertiliser as they depend on organic manure from their livestock. The manure is ferried in scotchcarts from their homes, about nine kilometres away.
With the help of local agronomists who visit them weekly, crop rotation has become their number one priority. This method helps them achieve high yields per hectare.
Green maize, which they expect to start selling in November, grows rapidly.
An agronomist who is assisting them, Mr Elliot Makunike, said Mberengwa district was synonymous with hunger owing to low rainfall.
He said it was, however, possible to start success-ful farming ventures, courtesy of the irrigation scheme.
“We have shown those who do not live here that the area can be turned into a ‘green yard’ all-year-round if water is available,’’ he said.
He called on the responsible authorities to replicate the model in other areas.
“This is a unique scheme. We do not use electricity for sprinklers or pumps.’’
Labels: IRRIGATION, ORGANICS
Read more...
