The Sunday News
ONCE touted as the best irrigation scheme in Matabeleland South, Valley Irrigation Scheme situated in the Donkwe-Donkwe area of Kezi is now a pale shadow of itself sparking serious food shortages in the arid area and eroding the economic lives of villagers.
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 the area which is a low rainfall area in the agro-natural region five.
However, due to a combination of various economic and natural factors militating against the irrigation scheme, it has not been functional for a good number of years now. The death of the irrigation scheme has added to the catalogue of problems that the communities deal with.
The communities around, apart from having a food secure life, were even selling the surplus to send children to school. A visit to the irrigation scheme recently by this paper revealed that the irrigation scheme which used to be the only reliable source of livelihood in the arid area with good soils and a poor rainfall pattern was now a shadow of its former self. The area that used to be a greenbelt is now punctuated by brown and empty fields.
Officially opened in 1997, after being constructed by the Chinese, the scheme used to cater for thousands of villagers surrounding it.
Speaking to the Sunday News, Mrs Antonetta Zulu one of the farmers who used to benefit from the irrigation scheme said the project was fast facing its demise.
“This irrigation is dead now and we have nothing in our fields. We could have been irrigating our crops but the dam that we used to draw water from — Valley Dam — is drying up so our crops dried up and we are not sure what to do. We now compete with our livestock for water at the dam,” she said.
A Zesa transformer which was installed to make it easy to pump water to the irrigation scheme developed faults and became dysfunctional and a new one was brought in but there are no power supplies.
“We have not had power for a long time now and the people who installed the transformer have not returned to connect it,” said Mrs Zulu. The farmers have tried three times in vain to plant various crops as the rains have also failed them too.
Their challenges do not only emanate from the drying up of the dam or the unavailability of electricity but they got some loans to purchase inputs from banking institutions that they are now failing to service.
“We were given loans from the bank to purchase fertiliser and seed and we were supposed to pay back with the profits we were anticipating from our farming activities but we have lost everything and we cannot pay back the loans. We are in trouble,” said Mrs Sibusisiwe Ncube.
She said a lot more villagers are now owing the bank thousands of dollars as their loans were accumulating interests each month.
“Our wish is for the bank to understand our situation, we did not get anything and we cannot pay them back as yet. We are pleading with them to at least stop putting interest rates on our loans while we find means to pay back,” she said.
The villagers are indeed in a “catch-22” situation as they have sold their livestock to try and pay back the loans.
The chairman of the scheme Mr Gibson Zulu said he was hopeful that there might be some activity as a little rain fell.
“With the little rain that fell maybe we can try and plant some crops and irrigate, that is if we get connected to power but if that fails then we will revert to the same problems that we are facing now,” he said.
The Provincial Agricultural Extension Officer Mr Judea Ncube said the Government had offered emergency relief to such schemes around the country.
“A team has been deployed in the province to assess the situation at all irrigation schemes and they are bringing in feedback. The less challenging problems will be immediately rectified and the programme will see some schemes operating. The more difficult things will be covered later,” he said.
He added that the team was currently in Beitbridge for assessment and would bring in feedback and move to the next district.
He further said the Government was making it a priority to revive irrigation schemes throughout the country as food production and security stands high on the list of its priorities.
The youths who have been beneficiaries of the scheme said they were jobless as no farming was taking place.
“We used to get piece jobs on people’s land but now there is absolutely nothing in the fields. We have no option than to sit and hope that the scheme is revived and we can find small jobs,” said Thamsanqa Moyo.
He said many have resorted to leaving the village and illegally crossing into South Africa and Botswana where they hoped for better fortunes. Some youths have moved to nearby Maphisa where they are attempting gold panning to eke a living.
However, food aid is coming to the village but is only accessible to those that are infirm and those living with disabilities. Mrs Ncube, who also is the wife to one headman, said only nine people were benefiting from food aid per village.
“The headmen were told to identify nine most vulnerable people within their jurisdiction and these people are the ones who are receiving food aid and the rest have to find a means to survive,” she said.
Last week the District Development Fund (DDF) intervened on the water challenge and managed to repair one borehole but villagers said they needed more boreholes repaired .
At its peak the scheme which was the pride of Kezi was churning out over 1 200 tons of maize each season as well as various other crops. The irrigation scheme stands on 200 hectares and has about 400 plot holders.
