BAGC has taken significant steps in addressing the catastrophic effects that Cyclone Idai had on the infrastructure within the Beira corridor. With additional financial support from the Royal Norwegian Embassy BAGC has been coordinating with its partners the significant rehabilitation of irrigation schemes particularly within the Manica cluster.
It’s over 8 months since the cyclone hit the region but farmers have proved resilient and have adapted over the short term to counteract the damaging effects on their irrigation systems. However short term temporary fixes are not enough and with the help of the Inputs Partnership BAGC has set in motion a major infrastructure rehabilitation programme that will continue into early 2020.
First stages of the rehabilitation have centred on the Rotanda schemes (pictured) which were particularly severely affected by cyclone damage. Large numbers of irrigation channels became silted up, but this was not a major challenge for farmers to fix. More importantly damage occurred through large tracts of irrigation channels being swept away by the vast amounts of water coming down from the surrounding mountains.
The ongoing rehabilitation work covers nine schemes and this work should be completed by the end of November. Completion of the works will restore water flow to farmers fields and allow them to continue production activities currently severely constrained by limited availability of water.
Cyclone IDAI affected to a varying degree, 21 schemes covering some 1,150ha in Manica province. Under the current phase we will be able to rehabilitate about 50% of these schemes.
We continue to engage our Partners with a view to securing resources for the other schemes. Bringing all target schemes to full functionality is important for the success of our Inputs Partnership programme.