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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
Government has accelerated the distribution of inputs under the Presidential Inputs Well-Wishers Scheme to over 22 000 households in Beitbridge District, as the 2017-18 farming season starts.

Beitbridge District administrator Mrs Kiliboni Ndou-Mbedzi said they had distributed 236 730 tonnes of maize seed to the 15 rural wards in the district since the beginning of the programme in September. She said they were still working on distributing the remaining 42 200 tonnes.

“We have redoubled our efforts to distribute the inputs which include; maize, sorghum, millet, soya beans and fertiliser. So far, we have handed over 27 595 tonnes of soya beans, 60 000 tonnes of sorghum, 30 00 tonnes of millet and 158 000 tonnes of compound D fertiliser and a further 60 00 tonnes of Urea to the beneficiaries,” said Mrs Ndou-Mbedzi.

Mrs Ndou-Mbedzi said they were working with Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and other players in delivering the implements to identified ward centres. She said the processing of logistical documents and identification of beneficiaries had been completed.

“Our idea is to give the inputs to every household in the district. You will note that though we had 18 596 households in 2012, the number has increased over the years. We are very grateful for the support we are getting from all the players, including the farmers, in ensuring that we fully implement the programme,” said Mrs Ndou-Mbedzi.

Mrs Ndou-Mbedzi said they were looking forward to a successful farming season since all the beneficiaries had shown the zeal to deliver. The programme comes shortly after the United National Development Programme availed $5,3 million for the revival of agricultural programmes in Nyanga and Beitbridge Districts under a three-year Zimbabwe Resilience Programme.

The project, which is being implemented through the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, is expected to take off in the first week of next month. The International Rescue Committee is leading the implementation of the programme that is being rolled out by a consortium made up of Cesvi, Matopos Research Centre and Biohub.

The programme will result in nine irrigation schemes in Beitbridge being resuscitated. These are Bili, Shashe, Jalukanga, Dombolidenje, River Ranch, Tongwe, Kwalu, Tshikwalakwala and Ndambe 2.