IT’S a sultry yet windy afternoon in Binga.

Ms Lilian Munga (60) rubs her eyes as she squints in reaction to strong light reflecting off the silver surfaces of overhead centre pivots.

She has deep furrows in her brow, which is lightly beaded with sweat following long hours of toiling in the fields. 

Ms Munga, a mother of seven, is one the few remaining plot holders from Manjolo Ward in Binga district, who have resorted to communal farming at Bulawayo Kraal Irrigation Scheme.

The villagers have taken it upon themselves to utilise the vast tract of largely derelict land. This land, which has been lying idle for years, forms part of Bulawayo Kraal Irrigation Scheme.

“The irrigation scheme stopped functioning about 15 years ago and that is why you are seeing us farming on this piece of land. Instead of resting on our laurels, we decided to utilise this fertile land. However, there is no water to irrigate our crops since the pipes connected from the Zambezi River are not working, hence we rely on rain water,” she said.

Established in 2004, the Bulawayo Kraal Irrigation Scheme is part of the Zambezi Green Valley (Zagreva) project which seeks to ensure a green belt in areas along the Zambezi River stretching from Kazungula to Kariba. It has been described as a major attempt towards addressing food shortage in the arid region.

However, the vandalism and theft of irrigation equipment has severely undermined the irrigation scheme’s capacity.  Ms Munga has been cultivating the fields for the past 10 years following the collapse of the irrigation scheme.

“Every year, I labour on this field, which has since become the source of my family livelihood. Sadly, this time we didn’t get meaningful yields because of a prolonged dry spell and even Zambezi River recorded a decline in water levels,” she said.

Like most locals, Ms Munga is struggling to raise school fees for her school going children. 

She believes Bulawayo Kraal has the capacity to transform their lives if fully operational.

“If the Government addresses the challenges that we are facing as plot holders in this irrigation scheme, I believe we can be able to produce enough food for our families and sell the surplus,” she said.

Another plot holder, Ms Selina Muvulo, a widow echoed Ms Munga’s sentiments.

“I believe if the Government revives this irrigation scheme, we will be able to fend for our families. We have abundant water in the Zambezi River, which is being under-utilised because the pipes connecting the water source and the irrigation scheme are not working and this is the main challenge we are facing at Bulawayo Kraal,” she said.

The chairperson of the seven-member steering committee for Bulawayo Kraal, Mr Titos Munkuli said constant water pipe bursts, bickering and lack of coordination among members as well as vandalism of the equipment continued to affect operations at the irrigation scheme.

“At one time, the irrigation scheme had 250 plot holders, but because of squabbles some pulled out and we are now left with 80 people,” he said. 

Acting Chief Binga, Mr Grey Muleya urged Government to speed up the resuscitation of Bulawayo Kraal, saying the irrigation scheme has a potential to turn around the district’s fortunes by virtue of its proximity to the Zambezi River.

 He said the irrigation scheme will play a critical role in spearheading the economic growth of Binga and Matabeleland North province.

 “Once Bulawayo Kraal is fully functional, we expect more jobs to be created for locals and the economy of Binga and Matabeleland North will grow as there will be a hive of economic activity,” said Mr Muleya. 

He said people want tangible assurance that something will be done at the irrigation scheme which is viewed as the panacea to food challenges in the drought prone Binga District.

Former Deputy Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet Mr Justin Mupamhanga during his visit to Bulawayo Kraal last year, called for a holistic approach in the operationalisation of the irrigation scheme saying the project was capable of transforming the district into a greenbelt.

Mr Munkuli said there has been no meaningful development at the scheme since 2004.

“There has been nothing going on for the past 15 years and this is impacting negatively on the development of the irrigation scheme. We also have inadequate security resulting in people stealing fertilizer and the perimeter fence and they are also vandalising equipment,” he said.

Mr Munkuli accused some disgruntled plot holders of destroying the perimeter fence and centre pivots among other equipment.

“We need more security personnel to protect the equipment from vandals. The other challenge that we are facing as farmers is lack of coordination,” he said.

Mr Munkuli said constant water pipe bursts contributed to the irrigation scheme’s mounting woes. Matabeleland North Provincial chief irrigation engineer Charles Makhula said Bulawayo Kraal has not been fully functional since the departure of Arda Jotsholo Farm private investor Mr Brent le Reux. 

Mr le Reux left the irrigation scheme due to challenges emanating from contractual obligations with the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement and plot holders.

 However, the good news for farmers is that Bulawayo Kraal is set to get a major boost after the Government secured foreign investors who will inject a substantial amount of money towards its revitalisation and expansion.

A consortium comprising investors based in South Africa and Dubai working in partnership with the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda) is set to rehabilitate the irrigation scheme. It is also envisaged that the project will be expanded to cover 15 000 hectares of irrigatable land for cropping. Presently, the hectarage under irrigation is 400 hectares. 

When a Chronicle news crew recently visited Bulawayo Kraal Irrigation Scheme, there was no meaningful farming activity taking place. 

Some equipment such as planters and centre pivots had been vandalised while in some sections of the irrigation scheme, the perimeter fence had been pulled down creating unlimited access for livestock to stray into the fields.

However, with the new development, it is hoped that there will be employment for the local communities when the area is transformed into an economic hub. 

 “There was a Government directive that Bulawayo Kraal Irrigation Scheme should be handed over to Arda and that was effected. However, Arda indicated that it had no capacity hence it looked for partners and they went through a tendering process and identified a foreign investor who will develop 15 000 hectares of land,” said Eng Makhula.

“The investor wants to bring in specialists to do the documentation work since the scheme is being expanded from the current 400 hectares to 15 000 hectares. We are now waiting for Arda to start work since they now have an investor.”

Located about 30km away from Binga Centre, the project has been failing to fully take off since 2004 owing to a myriad of challenges among them constant pipe bursts. 

Eng Makhula said under the expansion drive, Bulawayo Kraal will extend to Mlibizi, Siansundu and the area along Binga-Siabuwa road.

“I recently had a meeting with the investor and they indicated to me that more centre pivots would be installed in addition to the current six. There will be a lot of land clearing, electricity connections and construction of a road network,” he said. – @mashnets