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Masvingo Bureau
ZIMBABWE has secured a US$98 million loan from Brazil to fund the mechanisation of the agricultural sector, including rehabilitation of irrigation schemes, as part of Government’s thrust to improve food security.Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development responsible for Cropping, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Cde Davis Marapira, said at the weekend that the loan was expected to present local farmers with an opportunity to access cheap lines of credit as Government intensifies efforts to mechanise the agricultural sector to increase production.

Cde Marapira said farmers would access the loan to procure equipment such as tractors, adding that part of the funds would be used to resuscitate collapsed irrigation schemes.

“We are happy that the ongoing thrust to mechanise our agricultural sector is going according to plan and we have already secured a US$98 million loan from Brazil that will help us to mechanise our agricultural sector.

“The loan from Brazil will make it easy for our farmers to access cheap lines of credit to buy critical equipment such as tractors as we seek to mechanise our agricultural sector to enhance food security,’’ he said.

Cde Marapira said the loan would be used to rehabilitate major irrigation schemes that were not operating at full throttle owing to a myriad of challenges ranging from constantly broken pumps, dilapidated canals and shortage of irrigation pipes.

He said the rehabilitation of irrigation schemes had started in various parts of the country.
“We are looking at rehabilitating major irrigation schemes countrywide using part of the US$98 million loan provided by Brazil and we have already started the exercise with several irrigation schemes in Masvingo and Manicaland having already received new pumps to breathe life into them.’’

Cde Marapira said Nyanyadzi Irrigation Scheme in Manicaland received new equipment together with others like Stanmore and Dromore Irrigation schemes in Masvingo.

Cde Marapira said Government would soon resuscitate the 800-hectare Mushandike Irrigation Scheme which used to be the major source of food for Masvingo city before it collapsed two years ago due to shortage of water and dilapidated infrastructure.

Plans were afoot to build a pipeline linking Mushandike with Muzhwi Dam in northern Chivi which is underutilised. Cde Marapira said mechanisation of the agricultural sector and rehabilitation of Zimbabwe’s irrigation schemes would gain momentum in the next few months with other emerging economic powers besides Brazil, such as India and China, also promising to render support in the form of loans or agricultural machinery.

Zimbabwe is slowly shifting towards irrigation in the wake of recurrent droughts. Shortage of machinery like tractors spawned by the illegal sanctions imposed by the West, has been stifling efforts to boost production in the agricultural sector.