Gift of Givers Foundation invests K61mil in Chiradzulu irrigation
At least 100 farmers in Traditional Authority (T/A) Likowe in Chuiradzulu District will benefit from a K61 million irrigation project to be launched by Gift of Givers Foundation.
Agriculture Officer for the Organization Ven Kaliati disclosed this Thursday at the boma during District Executive Committee (DEC) meeting.
Gift of Givers will implement the project with financial assistance from government of Japan.
Kaliati said his organization together with District Irrigation Office (DIO) will upgrade the already existing irrigation scheme at Kani Village in T/A Likoswe where farmers were using motorized pumps.
He said the project intends to reduce over-reliance on rain-fed agriculture and build capacity of rural people in agriculture production.
“The project is therefore expected to create coherent irrigation scheme to contribute towards food security, improving economic statuses of [smallholder] farmers in the district,” said Kaliati.
Through the project, they will drill a borehole on site and water will be pumped using electrified submersible pumps with overhead tanks as reservoirs. The tanks will be connected with pipes that will supply water to the canals in the fields.
To ensure sustainability of the project, the organization will be responsible for maintenance and rehabilitation of the water pumps for a period of at least 5 years and that set a committee to oversee the operations of the scheme.
Farmers will also be required to pay an agreed membership fee after selling their produce and the money will be used to pay electricity bills.
In her remarks, District Agriculture Development Officer (DADO) for Chiradzulu Sheila Kang’ombe encouraged the beneficiaries to grow crops of high value such as tomatoes to realize more income to sustain the scheme.
Kang’ombe said the project would complement government’s efforts of increasing crop production through irrigation farming.
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