Tawanda Mangoma in Chiredzi
Thousands of villagers in Masvingo province are expected to benefit following plans by the Masvingo Development Trust to establish community irrigation schemes that will use water from boreholes being drilled by the Trust.

The Trust’s chair and Zanu-PF Politburo member Cde Lovemore Matuke last week, said besides boosting food security through supply of irrigation water, the planned boreholes will improve access to portable water among communities in the drought-prone province.

Plans by the Trust to sink boreholes across the province follows the organisation’s successful partnership with Lowveld sugar producer, Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe, where the latter provided land, machinery and expertise for the production of 1 300 tonnes of winter maize by the former.

The Trust ventured into winter maize production after benefiting from Government’s Command Agriculture programme.

It is expecting at least $500 000 from the winter maize project this year.

Speaking at the handover of winter maize grain in Chiredzi, Cde Matuke said the Trust wanted to use the money to uplift lives of ordinary people in Masvingo.

The Trust is going to buy a borehole drilling rig that will sink boreholes at affordable rates in communities across the province.

“Our goal as Masvingo Development Trust is to uplift the lives of people in the province. We understand that communities, which practice irrigation, will never succumb to hunger,” he said.