Low rainfall threatens Zim food security

The low rainfall patterns that have characterised the current season have had a disastrous effect on rain-fed crops and put Zimbabwe’s food security under threat.

Harare – The low rainfall patterns that have characterised the current season have had a disastrous effect on rain-fed crops and put Zimbabwe’s food security under threat, the country’s Minister of Environment, Water and Climate Change, Oppah Muchinguri, said on Monday.

In a public statement in Harare, Muchinguri said water sources in all the country’s seven catchment areas, namely Runde, Save, Manyame, Mazowe, Sanyati, Gwayi and Mzingwane were drying up and she urged Zimbabweans to use the precious resource sparingly.

“Most of the dams do not have enough water to last us to the next season. This paints a bleak picture as some towns and cities will have to resort to strict water management strategies,” she said.

Muchinguri said the country’s dams were on average 51 percent full at a time when most of them should be spilling over.

She revealed that ground water levels, especially in cities such as Harare, were also under serious threat as the water table continued to dwindle as people shunned municipal water and relied on the ground water for drinking and cooking.

“There has been limited to no recharge in our wells and boreholes; and as a result, our water table has gone deeper. For instance, in Mashonaland West, there are 990 non-functional boreholes, Masvingo 1 327, Midlands 399, Matebeleland North 1 775, Matebeleland South 2 087, Mashonaland East 2 074, Mashonaland Central 2,699 and Manicaland 1,640, she said.

Muchinguri urged Zimbabweans to be highly responsible and to adopt measures to secure the existing water infrastructure and conserve the little water available to last until the next rain season.

The minister urged farmers to avoid unnecessary loss of water during irrigation and to encourage drip irrigation and to appreciate the water requirements of their crops.

“Furrow and flood irrigation systems, though cheap to construct, are wasteful, hence the need to desist from such systems in dire times like these,” she said.

The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA), the minister said, was embarking on an awareness campaign to educate the populace on the water situation prevailing in the country, with a view to making them understand the benefits of conserving water.

African News Agency

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