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Thupeyo Muleya, [email protected]

BEITBRIDGE Rural District Council has started establishing communal nutrition gardens and piped water schemes in rural communities as part of efforts to boost income revenue streams at household level and enhance dietary diversity.

The local authority is also upgrading boreholes from manual pumps to solar-powered ones.

The programme complements the Presidential Rural Development Programme, which is being spearheaded by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa).

Under the Presidential Rural Development Programme, the Government aims to drill at least one borehole in 35 000 villages across all provinces, where people will have increased access to clean and potable water.

The Presidential Rural Development Programme was launched by President Mnangagwa in December 2021 in Mangwe, Matabeleland South province.

The programme is anticipated to help unlock opportunities for rural communities in terms of access to clean and safe water, food security, poverty alleviation and employment creation.

In this initiative, Zinwa is working with other Government agencies such as the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda), Tobacco Research Board, Agritex, the Department of Veterinary Services, the Fisheries Department and the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA), which is responsible for sourcing and establishing markets for the produce from the villages.

In an interview, Beitbridge RDC chief executive officer, Mr Peter Moyo said so far, they have running projects at Gandakasame, Tshituliphasi, Old Nuli, Shabwe and Dendele.

“As part of our call to action plan, we want to address water supply issues in the district, and as a local authority, we have set a target to have at least 240 community boreholes by the year 2028,” he said.

“In addition to that, we are introducing piped water schemes to bring potable water closer to the people in rural service centres. The modernisation of boreholes will also ensure that communities venture into small horticulture projects that will help improve their incomes at the household level.”

Mr Moyo said there are 480 registered community boreholes in rural Beitbridge and that they were targeting to upgrade to increase access to water and productivity in small horticulture projects.

He said so far the biggest piped water scheme was in Dendele in Ward 10, where they have partnered with development agencies and installed three water tanks with a carrying capacity of 30 000 litres of water.

Mr Moyo, said the project is supplying potable water to a local school and two villages in the ward.

“We have created water points closer to people and the villagers no longer have to walk for a long distance to access clean water. At Tshabili, the piped water project is supplying a clinic, a primary school and villages in the locality,” he said.

“We have a similar venture at Tshituliphasi and another one at Gandakasame which supplies the community with water for domestic use and gardening”.

Last week, the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement, Dr Anxious Masuka said the Government has now reconfigured the 63km canal from Zhovhe Dam to Beitbridge to include community fisheries, nutrition gardens and piped water schemes at all business centres and villages along the waterway.

He said among other things, the Zhovhe project will have a 2 500-hectare irrigation scheme project and a water canal, which will supply Beitbridge town with water from the dam.

The canal will also supply commercial and smallholder farmers in Wards 6 and 14 with water for irrigation farming. —@tupeyo