The Sunday News
Dumisani Nsingo Senior Farming Reporter
CROPPING at the 10 000-hectare Bulawayo Kraal Irrigation scheme in Binga will start next summer, raising hopes that the venture would improve food security in the drought-prone district. Bulawayo-based Environmental Guardians Services, which has been doing an Environment Impact Assessment of the project on a voluntary basis, said the process was complete and the project could take off.
“I was summoned to the offices of the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs for Matabeleland North and the Provincial Administrator where they said we have worked within Matabeleland North for some time and they requested that as part of our social corporate responsibility can’t we plough back to the community by doing this project for free and we actually agreed. So we are doing this project for free,” said EGS senior consultant, Mr Michael Montana.
EGS has done environmental consultancy work for various institutions across economic sectors mostly in Matabeleland region and the Midlands Province. Mr Montana said his firm was likely to complete and compile its EIA report before the end of next month.
“We are likely to forward the EIA report to the Environmental Management Agency towards the end of August or first week of September,” he said.
The irrigation scheme has already been allocated five tractors, three disc ploughs, three planters, 75 knapsack sprays and eight water pumping units under Brazil’s More Food for Africa funding programme.
“We have completed designs of the five, 50 hectares of the first phase of the scheme, which will be irrigated using centre pivots. The contractor came on site for the clearing of the remaining 150 hectares and we have started receiving Brazilian equipment, which also includes centre pivots accessories,” said Mr Pride Mahombera, the Department of Irrigation’s district irrigation technician.
The first phase with a total budget of close to $2 million would see the cropping of maize, wheat, sugar beans and soya beans.
Speaking after an EIA stakeholders consultative meeting in Binga on Tuesday, the assistant district administrator, Mr Witness Kufa, said the agricultural project would go a long way in alleviating hunger in the district.
“The project will be of great significance in this area because if you look at the large hectarage which is expected to be irrigated and considering that as a district we are located in region four and five that have very low rainfall and farming on commercial basis is impossible.
“Binga is considered as one of the most food insecure districts in the country and the setting up of this irrigation scheme will mean that we will be able to be more sustainable as a district as far as food is concerned,” Mr Kufa said.
Chief Binga reiterated Mr Kufa’s sentiments saying:”Irrigation is the only way of farming which ensures that we have adequate food supplies throughout the year and I think this initiative will go a long way towards improving food security at household level”.
The irrigation scheme is part of the Zambezi Green Valley (Zagreva) project, which was officially launched by former Vice-President Joice Mujuru in 2006 and seeks to ensure a green belt in areas along the Zambezi River stretching from Kazungula to Kariba and has been hailed as a major step towards addressing the country’s perennial food shortages.
