The Sunday News
Chrispen Gumunyu, Business Reporter
THE Government is set to install more devices to measure moisture in the soil at irrigation schemes in the Matabeleland region in a bid to promote irrigation efficiency.
The idea came during a round table discussion that was held during the World Food Day celebrations on Wednesday in Bulawayo. The celebrations, anchored by Zimpapers Television Network, were held under the theme: “Healthy Diets and Livelihoods For A Zero Hunger Zimbabwe.”
Speaking at the discussion, Matabeleland North Provincial Crop and Livestock officer in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, Mr Dumisani Nyoni said the Government is planning to introduce more water efficiency devices called chameleons which are dug into the soil at fields and detect when there is excess water when irrigating.
“We have been very wasteful as a country in terms of our irrigation efficiency and we also need to improve on our productivity per unit area that is cropped because our recent statistics show that our maize production is averaging at 0,5 to 0,9 tonnes per hectare and that is too low. We started using the chameleon at Insiza then we introduced it in Tshongogwe in Lupane, Makhovula also in Lupane and now it will be introduced in parts of Hwange.
“The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement is trying to ensure there is sustained production by developing irrigation schemes and improving water use efficiency through technologies that will increase productivity per unit of water that is used,” said Mr Nyoni.
A nutritionist in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Mrs Annabel Tshuma said her ministry will use a multi-sectorial approach in its efforts to achieve zero hunger in the country.
“As the MoHCC we are going to continuously strengthen nutrition advocacy, community capacity building initiatives and create awareness in communities through a multi-sectorial approach to ensure that we have healthy and nutrition secure communities by integrating and working together with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) to ensure that communities understand the importance of sanitation and hygiene,” she said.
CNFA/Amalima programme chief of party, Mr David Brigham said good nutrition will be essential in achieving targets that have been set for the future.
“Good nutrition is essential for a healthy population and economy and its quite different from just economic development. Zimbabwe has a huge potential; agricultural, human and economic potential so I think what we can do right now while we are in economic struggles is to start at the grass root level to build a healthy foundation made up of healthy children and they will be the ones who will carry us forward,” said Mr Brigham.
Other panellists who also took part in the discussions included representatives from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA).
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