* Matoponi farming cooperative in Zomba taps water from the Shire River using solar-powered pumps to irrigate 100 hectares of farmland
* Phalombe’s Likatcha irrigation scheme is a prime example of an irrigation system that resurrected after it fell victim to the wrath of Cyclone Freddy in 2023
* Despite enduring substantial damage, the local community continues to reap the benefits of the irrigation practices
Maravi Express
Irrigation schemes are transforming agricultural productivity across the country — an initiative that is in line with the government’s agriculture, tourism and mining (ATM) strategy that is aimed at ensuring food security and promoting self-sufficiency.
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One example is the Matoponi farming cooperative that is using solar powered irrigation scheme, part of the programme for Rural Irrigation Development (PRIDE) project, which is transforming agricultural productivity in Zomba District.
Supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the scheme is located in Sub-Traditional Authority (ST/A) Nkapita and it taps water from the Shire River using solar-powered pumps to irrigate 100 hectares of farmland.
Currently benefiting over 467 farmers, the scheme enables year-round crop cultivation, with farmers harvesting up to three times a year — crops being maize, beans, eggplants, tomatoes and rice.
This is contributing significantly to the socio-economic well-being of both the farmers and the surrounding communities and vice-president of Matoponi Cooperative, Chipiliro Kambeta said the project is a game-changer for the farmers in the area as they are now able to farm multiple times a year, which has greatly improved their livelihoods.
By improving agricultural production, the Matoponi scheme plays a vital role in supporting the broader national agenda of revitalising the agricultural sector and the project exemplifies the power of innovative, sustainable farming techniques in combating food insecurity, while contributing to the economic empowerment of rural communities in Malawi.
In Phalombe District, their Likatcha Cooperative, whose irrigation scheme is located in the area of Traditional Authority (T/A) Nkhulambe, which is a prime example of an irrigation system that resurrected after it fell victim to the wrath of Cyclone Freddy in 2023, resulting in the devastation of its water intake infrastructure.
Despite enduring substantial damage, the local community continues to reap the benefits of the irrigation practices, cultivating a variety of crops including maize, tomatoes, vegetables and rice.
The scheme accommodates a network of 451 farmers, collectively managing a vast 36 hectares of arable land and its expansion of agricultural operations has yielded considerable profits, affording opportunities for investments in assets such as motorcycles, residential properties, and other valuable acquisitions.
Meanwhile, farmers involved in irrigation farming in the Northern Region have hailed government for revamping and supporting irrigation schemes across the country, observing this will likely lead to food security at national and household levels.
Joseph Nyirongo, a member of Limphasa irrigation scheme in the area of T/A Mkundira in Nkhata Bay District, said irrigation schemes are a solution to the hunger that affect many households’ year in and out due to erratic rainfall patterns.
Nyirongo, who is chairperson of Limphasa Mkondezi Cooperative, which was born out of the scheme, urged farmers across the country to adopt new irrigation farming techniques and to not only rely on rain-fed agriculture, saying rains have become increasingly unreliable.
Stretching over a 669 hectares of land, Limphasa scheme has so far received technical and financial support from the Irrigation for Rural Livelihood and Agriculture Development (IRLADP) and Agriculture Commercialisation (AGCOM) project.
It boasts of over 1,068 farmers benefiting from the initiative, with many acquiring tangible assets such as good houses, cars and motorbikes, among others.
Another scheme member, Kate Kayange observes that as a single mother with three children to look after, life would have been difficult without the scheme.
She said with money earned after selling her rice produce from the scheme, she has so far managed to send her children to school and one to a college of tourisms, besides a decent house she has constructed.
Kayange commended government for its unwavering effort to revamp and extend the irrigation schemes across the country, hailing it as “the right step towards attaining food securing and sufficiency in the country”.
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In a bid to permanently deal with perennial food shortages which affect many households across the country due to failing rains, government has in the recent past gone full throttle in revamping, establishing and maintaining irrigation schemes in the country.
Government has also taken a step further in its effort to end hunger by introducing in Parliament and passing the irrigation Bill into law, which has been hailed by experts as necessary to guide irrigation activities and boost agricultural productivity.
Rumphi farmers are also making a significant impact through irrigation farming at Bethani irrigation scheme in Chisovya, which has 78 farmers (30 females and 48 males), and they grow various types of crops, including, beans, tomato and cabbage, among others.
Bethani uses gravity-driven irrigation system that has received support from various partners, including JICA, along the way since it was establishment in 2004.
The scheme has transformed the lives of the members, most of whom have managed to build better houses and increase their wealth at household level.
Among the farmers who have made it big at Bethani are youthful Alick Kasimba, a tomato farmer and secretary of the cooperative and Anne Mhango Mukalawa, member of the scheme.
Kasimba has managed to build a better house for his family, and he has also bought a car and a motorcycle with the proceeds from his tomato farming, while Mukalawa has managed to keep her family food secure, and her children and grandchildren in school through off-season maize and beans farming.
The scenario is the same elsewhere in the district where Tiyese irrigation scheme is thriving with water diverted from Mhuju River in Traditional Authority Mwahenga, to supply water to patches of land belonging to 104 members of the cooperative.
Tiyese irrigation scheme was once supported by World Bank-funded IRLAD and to date, the infrastructure still stands strong, benefitting over 100 members through irrigation farming.—Content by Malawi Government Facebook platform; editing by Maravi Express
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