Govt on track to meet 496,000ha irrigation target
LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
Government is on course to achieve its 496,000-hectare irrigation target, a major milestone in efforts to shield Zimbabwe’s agriculture from the impact of climate change and erratic rainfall, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.
Delivering his State of the Nation Address (SONA) at Parliament in Mt Hampden on Tuesday, President Mnangagwa reaffirmed that irrigation development remains a cornerstone of the country’s quest for food self-sufficiency and rural industrialisation.
“The area under irrigation has expanded from 151,000 hectares in 2019 to 221,000 hectares in 2024. We are well on course to reach our target of 496,000 hectares,” Mnangagwa said.
He added that under the Rural Development 8.0 initiative, government is drilling and rehabilitating boreholes to ensure reliable water access for village business units and households. In areas without irrigation, the government is promoting conservation farming to help farmers retain soil moisture and cope with prolonged dry spells.
Through the Agriculture, Food Systems and Rural Transformation Strategy, complemented by the Pfumvudza/Intwasa Programme, more than three million households have received inputs — a move that has bolstered the country’s resilience against climate-induced shocks.
Despite the presence of over 10,600 water bodies capable of sustaining irrigation, only 221,000 hectares are currently irrigated. Of this, around 46,000 hectares are devoted to sugarcane and other plantation crops. To bridge this gap, government is engaging banks and private investors to finance irrigation projects and mitigate lending risks in the agriculture sector.
Agriculturalist Edward Dune said expanding irrigation infrastructure will be a game changer for productivity and unlock new opportunities for financial institutions.
“After setting up nearly 500,000 hectares for irrigation, the only thing we need to do is to focus on productivity — on how much we produce per hectare. Any moment we improve from five tonnes per hectare to anything higher, all that food will be in excess,” Dune said.
