SACP floats tenders for rehabilitation of irrigation schemes

THE Smallholder Agriculture Cluster Project (SACP) is inviting bids for the rehabilitation of Mug Ivhu Inhaka and Mamina B Irrigation schemes to increase smallholder farmer production, productivity and food and nutrition security.

Mug Ivhu Inhaka and Mamina B irrigation schemes are in Murehwa and Mhondoro districts respectively.

SACP is a six-year project running from November 2021 to December 2027 which is funded by the Government of Zimbabwe in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), smallholder farmers and the private sector.

The US$67, 43 million-project was put together by IFAD and OFID with a combined US$50, 7 million with Government and private sector added US$5, 4 million and US$7, 2 million respectively.

A recent SACP notice to prospective bidders read: “The Government of Zimbabwe has received financing from International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) towards the cost of the SACP and intends to apply a part of the proceeds to rehabilitate Mug Ivhu Inhaka and Mamina B Irrigation Schemes under national competitive bidding (NCB). The SACP, programme management unit (PMU) invites sealed bids and endorsed on the outside with the advertised tender refence number from interested and qualified bidders.”

The closing day for both bids is February 25 at 1000hrs.

The pre-bid meeting for Mug Ivhu Inhaka Irrigation Scheme will be held on January 29 at 1100hrs with that of Mamina B Irrigation Scheme scheduled for January 30 at 1100hrs.

The notice advised that bidders were required to deposit a non-refundable tender fee of US$100 per tender.

The main objective of SACP is to increase household incomes and improve food and nutrition security of more than 390 000 people in five provinces of the country through value chain development and provision of infrastructure.

SACP will cover the five provinces of Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Midlands and Matabeleland North.

The OPEC Fund’s loan will finance the construction of small-scale, climate-resilient irrigation schemes, the repair of 90 kilometres of feeder roads and the installation of water supply and sanitation facilities.

SACP is set to increase equitable smallholder participation in market-oriented and climate-smart value chains by growing household nutrition through sustainable transformation of small-scale farming.

The core focus of the SACP is to establish partnerships between smallholder farmers and lead enterprises within the agricultural value chains.

The strategy involves organising the farmers into production clusters. This clustering approach aims to strengthen the farmers’ collective production capacity to better meet the demand requirements of the lead enterprises across the value chains.

The SACP will bridge gaps in the country’s smallholder value chain organisation, which results in low productivity and low farmer incomes through cluster identification and venture capital mobilisation complemented by technical services for the agricultural production groups.

It is also set to increase equitable smallholder farmer participation in market-oriented and climate-smart value chains by growing household nutrition through sustainable transformation of small-scale farming.

The project aims to complement its sister project – the Smallholder Irrigation Revitalisation Programme (SIRP), which has ended, by promoting agricultural business and market driven agriculture production so that farmers can realise value from their farming operations.-herald

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