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George Maponga, Masvingo Bureau

SEVENTEEN co-operatives drawn from communities around Lake Tugwi-Mukosi in Chivi and Masvingo districts have already been licensed for commercial fishing on Zimbabwe’s largest interior lake.

The lake was created when the Tugwi-Mukosi Dam was built on Tugwi River just downstream of its confluence with Mukosi River impounding about 1,8 billion cubic metres of water.

The resulting lake has become a mainstay of the Provincial Command Fisheries programme, which is being replicated in other parts of Masvingo as the Government moves to boost incomes and nutrition in line with Vision 2030.

The co-operatives licenced to fish at the dam are drawn from Masvingo and Chivi, which share the water body that covers the border area between the two districts.

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) said the 17 co-operatives are harvesting at least 18 tonnes of fish a year from Tugwi-Mukosi Dam.

Since they started catching fish, the co-operatives say their incomes have been boosted.

Mrs Joyce Muchemi from Gororo Village in Chivi said fishing has changed the lives of some villagers in her area, although not many are benefiting yet.

“There is a growing sense of relief amongst villagers here that Tugwi-Mukosi Dam is now changing the lives of people here, especially through fishing. Those who are members of fishing co-operatives are actually drawing benefits from the venture as they are able to send their children to school.

“But our prayer is for the authorities to licence more from around this area so that many people move out of poverty.”

Mr Maximus Museva from Zunga area in the north-western tip of the Tugwi-Mukosi lake, said his life changed when he joined one of the co-operatives involved in fishing.

“The future looks bright even though we are still to fully benefit from fishing because of restrictions in harvesting fish to make sure that we don’t over-fish. 

“But I am happy to say that since I became a member of one of the co-operatives, my life has changed because I can now have money to send my children to school and even feed my family after selling fish from Tugwi-Mukosi Dam.”

Headman Gororo, under whose area thousands of people were displaced to pave way for completion of Tugwi-Mukosi Dam when the dam basin started filling nearly a decade ago, hailed the efforts being made by the Government to make sure his people benefit from the dam.

However, he said a lot more still needed to be done to ensure many more people benefit from the dam.

“We are indeed heartened as a community that some of our people are now getting benefits from this dam that caused so much pain to us in terms of displacement of people and loss of property and lives.

“Our wish is if more of our people can benefit not only through fishing, but also in terms of employment from projects that will take place here. 

“We want our people to be the first to benefit from jobs that will be created when modern hotels, roads and recreational boating, among other things, are set up,” said Headman Gororo.

Locals must also be able to irrigate their fields using Tugwi-Mukosi water, he said.

Headman Gororo admitted that fishing co-operatives had uplifted the lives of many people and was a “huge leap in the right direction and we are happy”.

The Government has indicated that communities around Tugwi-Mukosi should benefit from the Tugwi-Mukosi Dam.

Speaking during the World Tourism Day celebrations held at Tugwi-Mukosi Dam recently, Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister, Mangaliso Ndlovu, who was represented by his deputy, Babra Rwodzi, said there are many untapped opportunities at the dam.

But Minister Ndlovu said the water body had largely remained under-exploited from the time it was commissioned in May 2017.