The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure
Senior Reporter
RURAL communities require more resources to facilitate economic growth, improve standards of living and benefit smallholder farmers.
This calls for polices that respond to various challenges faced by rural areas and to exploit their resources and unused potentials.
Attention must be given to the provision of water. After all, water is life.
Many rural areas in Manicaland suffer insecure access to water for consumption and productive uses.
This has been a major constraint on rural poverty reduction and has been a multi-million challenge for families in rural areas as households are far from water points, thereby impacting livelihoods negatively.
Water is one of the most important production assets, and securing access and management of it is key to enhancing rural livelihoods.
Coupled with modernising agriculture in these remote underdeveloped areas, water availability is capable of promoting rural diversification and competitiveness, while increasing the quality of life of rural inhabitants.
Provision of water is thus crucial in spurring rural development.
It plays an important role in ensuring equitable, sustainable and productive rural economies.
In addition to being an essential element for agricultural production, nutrition and human health, water enables job opportunities in numerous key sectors across the rural economy.
After enduring decades of drought infliction, Government has taken a deliberate stance to extricate rural areas from water challenges.
Dubbed the Presidential Rural Development Scheme, Government will drill and equip one borehole in each of the country’s 35 000 villages.
Each village will also be empowered with a nutrition garden with a wide range of fruit trees.
This programme will accelerate attainment of Vision 2030 by addressing food security, import substitution, poverty alleviation and eradication, access to safe and clean water and create employment opportunities.
The programme is already being rolled out in Manicaland after its recent launch at Nyahukwe Village in Makoni District by Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development Minister, Dr Anxious Masuka.
A solar powered borehole was drilled by Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) and a one-hectare nutrition garden is being established for the locals.
“The programme is an accelerator for the attainment of Vision 2030, anchored on the provision of water as a right and an economic enabler. Water will cause agricultural development.
“Agricultural development will cause rural industrialisation, which will spur rural development and facilitate the attainment of Vision 20230.
“The Presidential Rural Development Programme will transform rural communities from being largely economic spectators to largely economic actors and participants,” said Dr Masuka.
Under the programme, Government, through ZINWA, will drill and equip a total of 35 000 boreholes by 2025.
This means a borehole in each of the 35 000 villages in the country.
This year alone, 5 000 boreholes will be drilled across the nation.
The solar-powered boreholes will open avenues for the local communities to establish horticulture gardens, drip irrigation, grow high-value horticultural crops, fisheries, and piped water schemes, together with washing slabs and cattle troughs.
This compliments other existing programmes like the Horticulture Recovery Plan and the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy — aimed at achieving a US$8,2 billion Agricultural Sector by 2025.
By 2030, it is expected that projects under the Presidential Rural Development Programme will be earning beneficiary households about US$600 per year.
In addition to these profits, beneficiaries will also be paid wages of US$45 per month for the work they put into the projects.
One of the project beneficiaries, Mrs Audrey Mukwewa, said nutrition gardens play an important role in enhancing food security and dietary diversity to combat malnutrition.
Mrs Mukwewa said the gardens will be a source of livelihoods for most women, especially widows and orphans.
“We are very optimistic because water is life. Without water, rural life is difficult. Rural women have no sustainable sources of income and the nutrition gardens will enable them to grow high value horticulture crops and fruit trees to enhance food security and dietary diversity to combat malnutrition.
“This is one way of empowering rural women to cater for their needs without depending on their husbands. They will be able to cater for household and educational needs of their children,” said Mrs Mukwewa.
Another beneficiary, Mrs Placxedis Makarutse said they will undergo training to enable them to expand, diversify and improve their productivity.
“We will run these nutrition gardens commercially, which will enable us to make profits and savings. We will produce a variety of horticulture crops with a guaranteed market, unlike in the past where production was not market-oriented. We thank the President for this programme as it will enable us to package our products in a professional manner,” said Mrs Makarutse.
Mrs Harugumi Kashiri said water has been a serious problem in Nyahukwa Village and the solar powered borehole is a panacea to several rural challenges.
“Our homes are far away from the existing water point. Getting there was a struggle and we are grateful to President Mnangagwa for ensuring that rural communities have access to safe and clean water within their vicinity,” she said.
Mrs Felistas Mwendo also hailed President Mnangagwa for his uncommon wisdom, remarkable vision and exemplary leadership which has positively impacted on rural communities.
She said the pursuit of this transformative and inclusive development vision is delivering broad based transformation, new wealth creation and expanding horizons of economic opportunities for rural people.
“True to the President’s word, no one and no place is being left behind. This programme will boost rural development and transformation across the province,” said Mrs Mwendo.
