‘Construct canals at irrigation scheme’

Farmers from Nyamphembere Irrigation Scheme in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mbenje in Nsanje District have asked duty-bearers to construct secondary canals at their scheme.

Speaking in an interview on Saturday, the scheme’s lead farmer Stuart Givinala said they dug wells to irrigate crops.

He also said the four solar pumps installed at the scheme have no batteries, which makes it difficult to pump water in the evening or in the morning.

Said Givinala: “To make matters worse, one solar pump is not functioning. For now, we only rely on rain-fed farming.

“That is why we appeal to duty-bearers to construct secondary canals and install batteries to the solar systems to enable us to grow crops during winter.”

Another farmer, Elizabeth Joseph from Masamba Village in the area said watering crops manually was tedious.

“I joined the scheme to practise commercial farming, but we have taken advantage of the rainy season to grow crops,” she said.

On his part, village head Ngwanji asked Nsanje District Council to provide them with fertiliser to apply to their gardens at the scheme.

“People have just grown their maize and we need fertiliser to ensure we get bumper harvest,” he said.

In a separate interview, Nsanje District Council irrigation officer Senior Engineer Jacob Moyo said they are lobbying well-wishers, including the council through District Development Plan and Governance to Enable Service Delivery to help construct the secondary canals.

He said: “All solar pumps were designed to work without batteries because they [batteries] are expensive.

“Yes, we are aware that one solar pump is not functioning and it will be fixed.”

Nsanje district irrigation department rehabilitated the scheme with support from the Post Cyclone Idai Emergency Recovery Project.

Nyamphembere Irrigation Scheme has 150 hectares with 233 farmers and Post Cyclone Idai Emergency Recovery Project pumped in K88.6 million to rehabilitate it with funding from the African Development Bank.