Govt earmarks 10 000ha for irrigation in Hwange
GOVERNMENT will undertake an aerial view of the land in Hwange district, Matabeleland North, where 10 000 hectares have been planned for irrigation when Lake GwayiShangani is completed.
Following the construction of the massive inland water body, the Government hopes to derive full economic benefits from various activities that will be undertaken in the province as a result of the project.
In an interview during an Inter-Ministerial tour of the Lake Gwayi-Shangani project site on Friday last week, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister, Dr Anxious Masuka, said they were planning to start irrigating by April next year.
“Preliminary indications are that 10 000 hectares can be commanded safely from this water while supplying Bulawayo for all its needs that is where we’ll be looking at the land again,” he said.
He said very shortly Government officials will be flying over to actually see the land earmarked for irrigation.
Dr Masuka said the lake was expected to have water this coming rain season. He said the Government has noted the urgency to ensure Matabeleland North is food secure.
In terms of the locals’ participation to the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), as a
result of the existence of the lake, Dr Masuka said:
“The President, His Excellency Dr ED Mnangagwa says no-one and no place should be left behind. So, as a ministry all our projects are household and village-centred, we say no household and no village should be left behind, which is why we have the community irrigation system, which will uplift the livelihoods of these people.”
NDS1 is an economic blue-print that succeeded the two-year Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP), and it is the second step of the Second Republic’s drive to attain Vision 2030.
NDS1, which was launched by President Mnangagwa in November last year, spells out policies, institutional reforms and national priorities needed between 2021 and 2025 to attain an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
Dr Masuka said Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda) now has a dedicated department of rural development and industrialisation to address the issue of rural to urban migration. — chroniclecl.zw
