As the Tanzania government takes a step on irrigating more land to boost production, lack of good contractors remain a challenge of which it has contributed many districts not starting the irrigation construction. So far only one district out of 162 districts has managed.
Modern irrigation becomes a reality in Bahi as Israelis arrive to pilot drip methods
• Tshs1.6bn worth of irrigation schemes to be handed over by November
• Local contractors say government tendering condititions too stringent for them
By Angel Navuri,Bahi
Local farmers and government experts have joined hands to ensure construction works for irrigation schemes in Bahi district take off at record speed. The District Commissioner, Mrs Betty Mkwasa, is one woman in a hurry and is not sparing any efforts to ensure Kilimo Kwanza in Bahi becomes a reality, whatever the obstacles.
No meaningful agricultural development can be expected in semi arid areas without irrigation but competent firms that can set up the required infrastructure are not readily available. Hence the need to creatively assemble teams that comprise experts borrowed from the central government, local agriculture officers and peasant farmers themselves who are the intended beneficiaries of the irrigation schemes.
These creative efforts have seen the birth of new irrigation schemes in Bahi namely Mtitaa which is costing Tsh400milion, Chikopelo that will consume Tsh606 million and Mtazamo whose cost is Tsh675 million.
Besides these budgetary disbursements from the government, another major contribution whose cost has not been computed is the labour provided by the local farmers in clearing the paths and helping in the excavation of the canals.
Speaking to The Guardian’s Kilimo Kwanza that visited the irrigation schemes, the District agriculture officer Sylvester Kashaga said that the constructions are in the last stages and they will be handed over by November.
The farmers are involved in the process of the construction so that they can also gain guidance from the contractors and the agriculture officers. It is a two-way process, for they also provide local knowledge to the experts as construction goes ahead.
According to Mr Kahsaga, Bahi was supposed to have 10 irrigation schemes but they have decided to have four big irrigation schemes instead of having many of them that have a limited capacity of serving.
Kashaga said that the establishement of the schemes it’s for boosting rice production in the interim, then later they will have other crops included too. The projects will be depending on a combination of the rivers and rains as a source of supplying water.
“For this irrigation schemes the famers will depend more on the river water and the rains, “he said, explaining that it will be seasonal farming. Besides harvesting the rains, water will also be obtained from the rivers Bubu, Mtonga, Mkambala, and Makorongo.
Besides the volunteer labour from the farmers, the District Agriculture Officer also highlighted the major commitment of the District Engineers and technicians who made the as irrigation construction possible. “There is money for irrigation development for all districts in this country but why some have not taken off is partly due to lack of such committed technical personnel as the ones we have in Bahi,” he explained
The district commissioner Betty Mkwasa said that her district managed to get good contractors after they advertised in the media and scrutinised the qualifications of the applicants.
Mkwasa also disclosed that Israeli contractors will be coming on board very soon and 20 hectares have already been earmarked for them to start a pilot drip irrigation schme with several farms. This will be just the first phase of a project that will cover 116 hectors for the entire drip irrigation pilot scheme.
Asked how she managed to attract so much money (over a billion shilings) to the district’s irrigation scheme, Mkwasa said they got the funds by writing good, convincing proposals by the help of their agriculture officer. “We were not given the money that easily,” she recalled. “For your district to benefit, you have to submit proposals that are good and convincing of you are to the needed funds for construction,” she said “I think we got more money this year than any other ditrict for irrigation,” she said. “But we still need more because irrigation construction is quite expensive.”
Mkwasa also said that plans of drilling boreholes for farming are underway since the area is so dry and there will be specific areas since many of the areas have salty water.
Speaking on the shortage of seeds, she said in her district it is not yet a problem. The DC reiterated that her ban on planting maize in Bahi is still in force and “serious action” awaits anybody who dares violate it.
“Changing the mindset of the people to agriculture is a challenge leadership at all levels in the country is still facing,” she said. The DC slapped a ban on the planting of maize in her district earlier this year, saying it is time residents realised that there are other, more profitable crops – including rice - to grow. She also ordered the confiscation of fertiliser obtained under the subsidy scheme that may be found lying in people’s homes instead of being taken to the gardens.
Extension agriculture officer Seshika Mchomvu expressed the confidence that from now on, the Bahi farmers will produce more than enough for subsistence because of the irrigation schemes that that have been started.
He said that at first farmers could not produce enough because the water could not move to the farms as a lot was sinking to the ground but now it will be easy as the water flow is technically controlled.
Irrigation officer Nicolas Lipundu said that the renovation of the dams will help in collecting more water and it will help in controlling more than before.
He said that at first the water held by one dam was 56,000 cubic metres but after renovation the dam can now hold 60,000 cubic metres.
According to Lipundu before renovation of the dam and construction of the irrigation schemes the water used to “pass through” and not getting to the farms but now the water will be controlled and directed to where its needed.
He said to further boost the irrigation capacity, a survey tp precede drilling of boreholes will start soon as to avoid from getting salt water that is not good for irrigation.
A local farmer, Mr Hassan Abubakar said that they didn’t expect that irrigation construction could become a reality, and can hardly believe their good luck.
He expressed satisfaction that in addition to providing more water for farming, the irrigation scheme actually controls the floods, something they had never expected to see in their lifetime.
Abubakar noted that right now the framers are happy and are ready for serious farming and are fearing that they might produce too much produce for the available market. Speaking on behalf of the other local contractors, Contractor Christion Kaguo of Kaguo Business Enterprise CO.LTD said that the construction will be handed over by November.
But Kaguo urged the government to review its irrigation contracts guidelines which he said have a lot of limiting regulations that many local contractors are failing to meet.
“We have good contractors too in the country but the government should review its irrigation contracts as there are so many issues to be tackled. This has lead to many of contractors not being interested in applying for the irrigation contracts,” he argued. “That’s why the government is facing a challenge of getting good contractors
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