Story by Kenias Chivuzhe
ZIMBABWE is making remarkable progress in its quest to transform the agriculture sector through improved irrigation capacity, with the government confident of reaching its target of 496 000 hectares by 2030.
The promulgation of Statutory Instrument 87 of 2025 is having a significant impact on irrigation development, with the Grain Levy being channelled towards irrigation development.
In an interview during the tour of the newly-established 50-hectare Glen Somerset Irrigation Scheme in Murewa, the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) Chief Executive Officer, Ms Alice Mapfiza outlined the progress recorded in establishing irrigation schemes.
It emerged that over US$3 million and ZiG29 million have been invested to develop 17 irrigation schemes under the first phase of the support programme.
“We are utilising the funds of the levy to support irrigation development in Zimbabwe, and this 50-hectare scheme is at 95 percent complete, and we think that soon farmers will be able to start irrigating. The scheme’s total cost is around US$300 000, but the total funds that we have put towards different schemes for the first batch amount to US$3.2 million and ZiG29 million.
“We think that we will continue to support a total of 17 irrigation schemes. This is going to be the first batch, and we will go into a second batch that is going to see more irrigation schemes being supported, and we will also proceed to a third page as we go. The timelines to complete the first batch are July 31 and July 2026.”
A total of 20 beneficiaries of the 50-hectare Glen Somerset Irrigation Scheme in Murewa, which is 95 percent complete, are elated at the prospect of transforming their lives through increased agricultural productivity.
“We are excited by the establishment of this irrigation scheme. The programme started in 2017. We were relying on rains, which were erratic. We want to promote food security following support from our government,” a beneficiary said.
“Our harvest was not all that good. We are happy that we have a pivot. We want to increase our productivity on maize and wheat,” another beneficiary said.
“We want to thank the government for this development. We had two dams that were not being utilised despite the erratic rains. The irrigation will improve food security,” a villager said.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development, Professor Obert Jiri, says the developments are testimony that the country is on course to achieve its target of 496 000 hectares under irrigation by 2030.
“Nationally, we want 350 000 hectares of cereals to be irrigated, which will guarantee us enough food for human consumption. As a nation, we are currently on 258 000 hectares under irrigation. We will remove from there the estates, sugarcane estates, citrus estates and other crops that are non-food, but in essence, we have around 148 000 hectares which are available for cereal production.
“It means that we need a further 200 000 hectares to be developed urgently so that we can meet the minimum requirement for food production through cereals that are irrigated. We have certainly moved quite a lot from 2017, when we were just about 171 000 hectares, and we are now on 258 000 hectares in 2026. We are targeting 496 000 hectares by 2030. That will cover our cereal requirement as well as the plantation requirements, including tobacco production,” he said.
As Zimbabwe continues to expand irrigation infrastructure through strategic investments and innovative financing mechanisms, the agriculture sector is expected to be a major contributor to the attainment of an upper-middle-income society by 2030.
