|
Back to Index
Zimbabwe:
Irrigation scheme sustains families through drought
Clever Maputseni, World Vision
November 12,
2004
http://www.reliefweb.int
Fifty-four families
are surviving on crop produce from the 20 hectare Manzvire Irrigation
Scheme established with World Vision Zimbabwe assistance.
Established in 1997,
the irrigation scheme is operating in the hot and dry agro-ecological
region 5 in the southeastern lowveld of Zimbabwe, near the border with
Mozambique, which receives 400-500mm annual rainfall and 29-32 degrees
Celsius average temperatures.
A product of the community
development programs era, the irrigation scheme stands out as a major
source of food for an otherwise perennially drought-stricken community
settled on the fertile flood plains of the giant Save river.
"For years this area
has been hit by series of droughts. It had a school since 1922 but the
school has had to close temporarily each time there was a drought. If
World Vision and other donors would establish more irrigation schemes,
that will be the only sustainable way to transform the lives of people
here," said Manzvire Irrigation Scheme founder chairman, Charles Chirimambowa,
51, a father of nine children.
Each family holds
0.4 hectares of land. The farmers rotate beans, wheat and the staple maize.
World Vision handed over the scheme to community management in 2000 and
the community has managed to sustain it until now.
Founding chairman
Chirimambowa expressed the willpower of his committee of seven people
to sustain the scheme. "To some extent we have managed to sustain the
irrigation scheme, especially paying for electricity and repairing of
engines. We will fight tooth and nail for the survival of this irrigation
scheme," he said.
However, he pointed
out a limitation that the six engines that run submergible pumps that
water the crops are failing to cope with the volumes of irrigation water
required. At the end of October 2004, the irrigation scheme was also hit
by a stray herd of 18 elephants that escaped from the nearby Devuli game
reserve and devoured 20 hectares of crops including maize, beans, bananas
and mangoes. The families face a season of no harvest.
"Irrigation is the
only solution for us to get food. We never harvest anything if we rely
on the erratic and seasonal rainfall. If the water problems are solved
and the scheme is expanded, our lives will improve much better.
"I am still strong
enough to work in the fields. For my children to learn hard work, I have
to demonstrate it first. The scheme has helped me. I managed to buy a
grinding mill, which gives me $ZW60000 ($US12) per day. I grow food for
my 12 children and I can afford their fees," said 70-year-old Mashohwa
Kuseni, a one-hectare landholder in the scheme.
Speaking on the future
of the irrigation scheme, Chirimambowa lamented the new threat of elephants.
He feels that an electric fence would help, but farmers cannot afford
it.
"The poorest-of-the-poor
criterion of selecting beneficiaries has yielded its results, but I feel
that some better off people and school leavers should also be accommodated
for the future of this scheme," he said.
The chairman expressed
hope and the right vision to see his people overcome their problems.
He added, "Our farmers
are very hardworking. It pains me to see lorries carrying loads of food
aid into this area. Let the lorries bring fertiliser, seed and pipes to
strengthen the irrigation scheme so that many more people can learn to
produce their own food."
Visit the World Vision-Zimbabwe
fact sheet
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
