Zimbabwe has announced plans to build 50 new small dams and weirs, while also upgrading and maintaining existing agricultural dams across the country.
The goal is to safeguard food production from the growing threat of climate disasters.
This effort forms part of a broader national plan to irrigate 350,000 hectares by 2028.
The initiative comes ahead of a La Niña season expected to bring above-normal rainfall.
Authorities are taking early action to improve food security and climate resilience, especially as the country faces increasingly erratic weather and rainfall patterns.
La Niña, marked by cooler-than-usual sea surface temperatures, often leads to excessive rainfall in parts of southern Africa.
Zimbabwe intends to turn this risk into a strategic benefit by investing in water-harvesting infrastructure to capture and store the extra rainfall for use throughout the year.
Don’t Miss This:
Zimbabwe’s Informal Sector Now A Threat To The Economy
Engineer Edwin Zimunga, Chief Director of Agricultural Engineering, Mechanization, Farm Infrastructure Development, and Soil Conservation at the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development, said climate change demands large-scale action.
“The face of climate change really requires that conservation, especially of our biodiversity and natural resources, happens at a much bigger scale.
Soil conservation remains a strategic pillar of agricultural production,” he said. Zimunga stressed the need for early preparation on the ground.
“The best time to start a Pfumvudza plot, to build contours, or to construct field drainages is now.
In the old days, we pegged and built contours before the rains to channel and retain water; that has not changed.
Only now we are doing it at a greater level because the rains are more erratic and the erosion more severe,” he added.
Referring to dam breaches that occurred last season, which caused deaths, as reported by The Herald, Zimunga warned that poor dam maintenance could lead to devastating consequences if not urgently addressed.
Speaking at the Pikinini-Jawanda Irrigation Scheme in Mwenezi, a 156-hectare project, UNDP spokesperson Ms. Pylaia Chembe said such projects show that rural communities can still thrive despite the challenges brought by climate change.
Don’t Miss This:
Zimbabwe’s Lithium Ion Battery Project Passes One-Year Test With Zero Failures
Image Credit: Safe4allafrica
