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The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) has given the agriculture sector a shot in the arm by drastically reducing the price of water for farmers.

Water is the sine qua non for a farmer. Crops need it to flourish, so do livestock. Electricity is important, but some farms run effectively without it, not without water. Without water there is no agriculture. It represents probably the biggest cost at a farm. Therefore, Zinwa made a great decision by cutting the price of water by between 27 percent and 56 percent on December 1.

Zinwa public relations manager, Marjorie Munyonga said the price reduction was effected to encourage small scale farmers to establish irrigation schemes and promote food security.

The new tariffs entail the reduction by 27 percent of raw water price for A2 farmers and a 40 percent decrease for A1 farmers. Communal farmers also had their tariffs reduced by 56 percent, while those for estates have been cut by 27 percent.

The new tariffs are meant to encourage small scale farmers to take up irrigation water and to allow Zinwa to raise money for the maintenance of existing dams and related water infrastructure.

Munyonga said the new tariffs would also encourage efficient water use at the same time allowing Zinwa to raise resources for the completion of new water projects.

“The reduction in the tariffs for farmers is set to trigger more irrigation water use especially in times when rain-fed agriculture is now difficult due to the unpredictable rainfall patterns. The move is also in line with the 10-point plan which is anchored on the revitalisation of agriculture and the agro-processing value chain.

“The move is also in sync with other government programmes aimed at improving the country’s agricultural performance such as the distribution of irrigation equipment sourced through bilateral arrangements with countries such as Brazil, India and South Korea to small scale farmers,” she said.

The price reduction should, to some extent, bring back the viability for many farming operations countrywide. Many communal irrigation schemes have collapsed over the years because of high water costs. Many new farmers, including sugarcane producers in the south-east lowveld, have struggled to establish sustainable irrigation capacity because of the high water charges.

However with the new tariffs, their situation should improve.

Farmers have already hailed the Zinwa move saying since Zinwa took over supply of bulk water, the parastatal’s cost recovery strategy made the commodity too expensive for them.

We appreciate the government’s decision, but we take it as the initial step in a bigger agenda to recover the industry’s irrigation capacity which was decimated as bitter white former farmers left the land for new, indigenous farmers in the early 2000s.

Employing the scorched earth policy, many former farmers disassembled existing irrigation systems after the land they occupied was compulsorily acquired and allocated to blacks. This meant that the new farmers were left with vast swathes of land and dams full of water which they could not work and utilise efficiently without irrigation machinery.

So we urge the government to assist further in terms of helping farmers acquire piping, pumps, motors and so on to complement the cheaper raw water. Our farmers, particularly the new A2 ones, have to grow to the extent of running automated irrigation systems, on centre pivots. Storage tanks are required on new irrigation systems too. The same applies to communal irrigation schemes, some of which cannot irrigate because of broken down pumps, lack of proper pipes and so on.

Apart from acquiring machinery and building the necessary infrastructure, farmers would only be able to fully utilise the low cost water if electricity supplies are improved. We know that this is an area which has dominated discussions on farms, mines and in the manufacturing sector since September 1, when Zesa rolled out probably the longest daily power cuts since independence, some areas going without electricity for 18 hours or longer.

A farmer who has a dam full of cheap water and the best irrigation equipment is as good as one who lacks both if he does not have the electricity to pump the precious liquid to his farm and water his crops and or livestock. So as the government moves to boost the nation’s irrigation capacity, we need not forget the importance of efficient power supplies as well.

Some farms can be watered via gravity, but still there is a need to channel the water to storage tanks before it flows in canals throughout the farms. Also, irrigation through gravity is disadvantageous because it tends to waste water and is laborious. This means that electricity is still needed even on farms where water can flow freely.

Having provided affordable raw water, set up machinery and infrastructure and ensured regular supply of electricity, a farmer also has to have the right skills for them to fully irrigate their farms. This, too, is an area where the government might need to look at, equipping farmers with the requisite skills set for them to utilise their irrigation capacity more effectively.