Zim's Fertile farm |
MORE than half of
Zimbabwe's irrigable land is underutilised due to dilapidated
state-owned irrigation equipment, posing a threat to the country's food
security, a study by the Auditor-General has revealed.
Zimbabwe, once the
breadbasket of the region, has been reduced to a basket case following a
chaotic agrarian reform programme which disrupted commercial
agricultural production and rendered the land unbankable.
According to a 2016
performance report by Auditor-General Mildred Chiri on the management
of irrigation schemes, agriculture, once the backbone of the economy, is
not realising its full potential due to a shortage of mechanised
equipment. The report further showed that 56% of irrigable land is
underutilised.
The study was
necessitated by an outcry from Zimbabweans over the collapse of most
irrigation schemes. The few that remain operational are facing a
plethora of challenges.
Irrigation schemes
which were managed by the department of irrigation development under the
ministry of Agriculture were meant to augment natural rainfall to curb
food shortages and ensure food security.
Irrigation schemes,
according to the report, collapsed due to lack of monitoring,
dilapidated infrastructure as well as poor performance by contractors
among other factors.
"The assessment of
the department of Irrigation Development's management of irrigation
schemes revealed a number of weaknesses which contributed to the
underutilisation of irrigable land," the report read.
"It was noted
through documentary reviews of project files for 69 irrigation schemes
that only 4 273 hectares (44%) out of a total of 9 741 hectares of
developed irrigable land was under irrigation."
The report shows
that 56% of irrigable land which was developed to contribute towards
ensuring the country's food security ended up lying idle due to
inadequacies in the department of Irrigation Development's management of
the irrigation schemes.
The department,
according to the findings of the report, was also embarking on new
construction or rehabilitation projects before completing ongoing ones,
resulting in many uncompleted and non-functional projects which in the
end defeated the purpose for which land was developed.
It report also
revealed that there is no monitoring and evaluation of the irrigation
schemes, resulting in the department being unable to assess the
relevance and fulfilment of irrigation objectives.
"There was no
evidence that the department did monitoring and evaluation of irrigation
schemes. According to interviews with Provincial Engineers, they cited
transport as the major challenge hindering monitoring and evaluation of
the schemes," the report reads.
"Contractors were
not performing well on the works that they were contracted to do which
resulted in delays in the completion of rehabilitation or construction
as some of the works had to be redone."
The report
recommends that Treasury timeously avail funding to the department of
irrigation to boost the prospects for agricultural development.
The auditor-general
noted that the country's water reservoirs needed urgent attention to
ensure that irrigation programmes are successful.
"All 13 schemes
visited had cracked and hanging canals due to eroded embankments and in
some cases trees had grown on the canal embankments. This resulted in
the department being unable to assess the relevance and fulfilment of
irrigation objectives," the report reads.
"The issues raised
were very material in that they sought to ensure national food security,
create revenue generation opportunities for the country and also reduce
the national unemployment rate."
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