AGRI DIRECTIVES EXCITE FARMERS

MBABANE – Learning from His Majesty King Mswati III’s Speech from the Throne, the budget for the Ministry of Agriculture has to be increased significantly.

This follows that the King has directed that government’s top priority should be the development of adequate water harvesting infrastructure to enhance food security.
The King said: “Following the recent rains, the development of adequate water harvesting infrastructure to enhance food security should remain a top priority for government. We are encouraged by the support pledged towards the short-term prioritised investment plan for agriculture which has great potential to add a significant number of jobs for our people.” 

He went on to say that government should continue promoting programmes for value addition on agricultural products and enhancing access to local and international markets.
Sipho Shongwe, a farmer and director of Swaziland Livestock and Technical Services, said the King’s directive in this regard is appreciated mainly because the country needs more water harvesting infrastructure mainly because farmers under rain-fed zones are always hit hard by the shortage of rains which is induced by climate change.

“If quickly implemented, this will go a long way in catapulting Swaziland to a food secure nation.
Government will commit more money to the Ministry of Agriculture as construction of Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project (LUSIP) Phase II is getting underway since SWADE intends awarding INES Joint Venture a contract worth over E554 million.

The contract is for the construction of the main conveyance sysstem and related structures for the Matata Block.
SWADE is an acronym for Swaziland Water and Agricultural Enterprise and INES is a joint venture between Inyatsi Construction and South Africa’s ESOR.

Project

INES joint venture proposed to undertake the project for E554 645 485.76.
 In its programme of action (2013-2018) government promised that to   achieve growth targets, a paradigm shift from current dry-land, subsistence farming to irrigated, commercial agriculture had to be secured.
 It had planned that 12 small earth dams would be constructed as part of the plan to increase the area under irrigation by 10 000 hectares by 2018 which should provide the platform for a further increase of 4 000 hectares by 2022, but the rate at which the dams are being constructed is close to zero.

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