MAKONDE
Irrigation Drip Farming
The Makonde irrigation project was commissioned by a representative of the Department of Agricultural Technical and Extension Services – Agritex, the Zimbabwean government's principal extension agency and the largest public rural intervention agency. The project’s success is also anchored on collaborative efforts exemplified by the integration integrated with the ongoing conservation agriculture trials by International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, further strengthening collaborative research and avoiding duplicated effort. The next phase will link farmers to financing institutions and markets to strengthen the agribusiness ecosystem.
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Makonde Irrigation Farm.
East and Southern Africa is a climate hotspot, and erratic rainfall and prolonged droughts have become the norm there. Smallholder farmers, who predominantly depend on rain-fed agriculture, are finding it increasingly hard to access water.
In 2023, the CGIAR Initiative for Diversification in East and Southern Africa (popularly known as Ukama Ustawi), led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), embarked on livelihood improvement exercise that involved developing smallholder solar irrigation systems in target rural sites in Zimbabwe. Stand-alone solar pumps have proven to be key investments that lead to improved food production, food security and ultimately poverty reduction. The Ukama Ustawi initiative seeks to diversify and sustainably intensify maize-based farming systems for improve food and nutritional security in the East and southern Africa regions. Irrigation is a key mitigation strategy especially in disaster prone sub-Sahara Africa that is currently grappling with El Niño induced climate impacts. Through the Ukama Ustawi initiative, three irrigable districts in Zimbabwe namely, Makonde district, Masvingo and Mureh-wa districts were identified as target sites for piloting the solar pumps. The site identification was informed by a thorough irrigation suitability mapping study. First on the list to receive “irrigation attention” was Makonde district.
Makonde is located in the semi-arid Mashonaland West Province of Zimbabwe. The region boasts of high river networks and ground water availability. A significant land area of the district (88.4%) is highly irrigable albeit high incidences of rainfed agriculture. The farmers in the district realise the importance of water availability to support their farming enterprises, hence why our target beneficiary already had a borehole in place. The IWMI team leveraged on the borehole for water supply. This intervention was a silver lining in the cloud for the resource constrained farmer who in turn agreed to share the water with nearby farmers, exemplifying UU's core principle of the ‘Community of Spirit’. A borehole capacity test confirmed the borehole as suitability of the aquifer to support agricultural production. The project team installed a green energy (solar-powered) pump to supply water for irrigation as well as to provide drinking water to the farming households. The system currently irrigates 3 hectares, benefiting three households and a total of about 20 people.
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Location
Makonde Region
Zimbabwe
Makonde is located in the semi-arid Masho-naland West Province of Zimbabwe. The region boasts of high river networks and ground water availability. A significant land area of the district (88.4%) is highly irrigable albeit high incidences of rainfed agriculture. The farmers in the district realise the importance of water availability to support their farming enterprises, hence why our target beneficiary already had a borehole in place. The IWMI team leveraged on the borehole for water supply. This intervention was a silver lining in the cloud for the resource constrained farmer who in turn agreed to share the water with nearby farmers, exemplifying UU's core principle of the ‘Community of Spirit’. A borehole capacity test confirmed the borehole as suitability of the aquifer to support agricultural production. The project team installed a green energy (solar-powered) pump to supply water for irrigation as well as to provide drinking water to the farming households. The system currently irrigates 3 hectares, benefiting three households and a total of about 20 people.