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Andrew Muvishi Mash East Correspondent
More than 180 villagers from Machiki Village in Macheke are going to benefit a total of 285 hectares irrigable land using centre pivots which is going to be provided by department of water resources and irrigation development.

Water is going to be drawn from Causeway Dam, which is located 30 kilometres east of Marondera with a carrying capacity of 75 million cubic litres.

This comes as the Second Republic has been vigorously pursuing pragmatic policies to transform people’s lives and achieve President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030, of making Zimbabwe an upper middle economy.

Water resources and irrigation development in the Ministry of lands, agriculture, water and rural resettlement Engineer Wellington Rambanepasi said farmers who have been resettled after there were affected by the dam construction were going to benefit 235 hectares.

“Machiki Village 21 consist of farmers that were resettled after having been affected by by the dam construction.

“The area that is irrigable amounts to 235ha, this is to be under Centre Pivot system which is going to be provided by the the Government of Zimbabwe through the Department of irrigation,” he said.

Engineer Rambanepasi said the department of mechanization in conjunction with the department of irrigation, Environment Management Agency (EMA) are going to engage the community in soil and water conservation.

“The inter-department team shall focus on small scale farmers that is Machiki village Irrigation scheme. Thus, for these two department of mechanization is going to peg contours and storm drains to prevent soil erosion and siltation of the dam.

“These inter-department will going to engage community in soil and water conservation, with the emphasis on good farming practices,” said Engineer Rambanepasi.

Villagers who were affected by the dam construction have been resettled and during interviews with The Herald, they hailed the Government for providing them with a water source that can enable them to farm all-year-round.

The Government is currently sinking boreholes for the relocated families for easy access of clean water.

One of the relocated farmers,  21-year-old Wellington Chigogo, thanked the Government for compensating them.

“We are grateful for this initiative and we want to thank our Government for giving us money to resettle, and at the same time benefit from the same project,” he said.

Another villager, Moses Chinhara (61) who has been relocated, said they are now going to practice horticulture.

“We used to rely on rain water, but this Government initiative will see us practice horticulture all-year-round and producing fresh produce,” he said.