Govt to increase irrigated land

Chitungwiza (New Ziana)-President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday said the country targets to put at least 400 000 hectares of land under irrigation, to mitigate recurring droughts caused by the effects of climate change.

Addressing a Zanu PF rally to drum support for the party’s candidates in Saturday’s by-elections in Chitungwiza, President Mnangagwa said his administration embarked on massive dam construction in a bid to boost water for irrigation.

“We are now food secure in Zimbabwe as a result of our programmes and policies.However, there is the issue of climate change; we will face more droughts as a result of climate change.

“So this is why we are constructing dams countrywide. We are not leaving out any province. We are increasing land under irrigation.

“We want to get to between 350 000 to 400 000 hectares of land under irrigation. When we get to that level, we will have enough food as well as our strategic reserves in the country,” he said.

President Mnangagwa said when ongoing dam construction projects are completed, perennial water supply problems would be a thing of the past for Harare and its satellite towns, Ruwa and Chitungwiza.

“Water problems for Harare and Chitungwiza will not go away until we construct bigger dams to supply the two towns.

“Two months ago, we started building Kunzvi Dam, once completed; water will be pumped to Harare. That will take about 18 months to two years. Once completed, water problems will be a thing of the past for Chitungwiza and Harare,” he said.

Before the rally, President Mnangagwa commissioned a solar powered borehole, drilled under the presidential scheme as a stop gap measure to Chitungwiza water supply challenges.

“But before we get to that (completion of Kunzvi Dam construction), today, we commissioned boreholes under the presidential borehole drilling programme to solve water shortages in the short to medium term,” said President Mnangagwa.
Residents of Chitungwiza are getting running water once a week.

New Ziana