VP Mnangagwa
George Maponga in Masvingo
Government has completed the rehabilitation of Chilonga Irrigation Scheme that will benefit over 5 000 villagers in the arid Chiredzi district.
The rehabilitation of the 200-hectare Chilonga Irrigation Scheme is part of the ongoing thrust to create a greenbelt in the Lowveld by harnessing the region’s vast water sources for irrigation to boost food security in Masvingo province.
Chilonga Irrigation Scheme had virtually collapsed following the breakdown of pumps used for drawing water from Runde River threatening the livelihoods of thousands of villagers who depended on the scheme for food and income.
The rehabilitation of the scheme saw the installation of two new pumps that would soon be put on a trial run.
Zinwa corporate communications and marketing manager, Mrs Marjorie Munyonga, confirmed the completion of rehabilitation work at Chilonga saying its revival would boost food security in the district.
“The installation of the new pumps will bring back life to the irrigation scheme that had stopped operations owing to the breakdown of pumps. Chilonga Irrigation Scheme supports approximately 5 000 families and draws its water from Runde River,’’ she said.
“However, the two pumps that were installed at the scheme could not undergo trial run because of low water levels in Runde River, but we expect them to be tested soon,’’ she added.
Mrs Munyonga said the Chikombedzi community had approached Lowveld sugar producer Tongaat Hulett for assistance with earth-moving equipment to divert water to enable the pumps to undergo a test run.
Chilonga was one of the key irrigation schemes in the Lowveld targeted for rehabilitation to boost food security as Government intensifies the use of available water sources to produce food.
Plans are also afoot to rehabilitate St Joseph’s irrigation scheme in Gudo communal lands that draws its water from Save River together with Rupangwana scheme under Chief Tshovani.
Speaking during a tour of the Lowveld recently, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, disclosed that Government wanted to create a perennial greenbelt in the Lowveld that would produce food for the nation to stop food imports.
The Vice President said the presence of numerous dams and perennially flowing rivers in the Lowveld, gave the area the capacity to sustain large-scale irrigation that could help Zimbabwe end chronic food shortages caused by recurrent droughts in the wake of changing weather patterns blamed on climate change.