E12.5M NGOLOLWENI WATER PROJECT HANDED OVER

NHLANGANO – Over 370 households of Ngololweni under Sandleni Inkhundla in the Shiselweni Region have welcomed a water project worth E12.5 million.
This is known as the Integrated Water Resource Development project.

These households were the ones that were already benefitting from the said project, which include a dam and other irrigation or water servicing systems. The water project was yesterday handed over to the residents by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (ESWADE). The project was handed over or launched together with the Chiefdom Development Plan (CDP) of that area. This activity was even more exciting because it coincided with the water month celebrated the world over.

Wetlands

The community has benefitted quite a lot from the project because ESWADE assisted in preserving wetlands and constructed the dam. It was learnt that women from the community were able to sell imphepho and lukhwane which is used to make grass mats. There are also many indigenous trees and plants that have been preserved on the wetlands. Also, the area’s dipping tank is functioning efficiently because water is always available. It was further gathered that farmers have also formed a company called Siyalima Farmer Company which produces vegetables such as butternuts, green pepper, tomatoes and beetroot, and everything planted already has a market. The company consists of 23 members and boasts of sprinkler irrigation systems to produce conventional vegetables on 11 hectares of land.

Under Secretary (US) in the Ministry of Agriculture Gugu Shabangu, who was representing Minister Jabulani Mabuza, said in the month of March, they were focusing and diverting all their attention to the commemoration of the World Water Day, appreciating the value and importance of water and what it brought to people’s lives. Shabangu noted that the biggest challenge that had been affecting the Ngololweni constituency was the diminishing of water resources. She said after the drought experienced between 2015 and 2016, water scarcity became a reality and a constraint that resulted in irrigation farming being abandoned. She added that government was determined to eradicate poverty by providing a better life for all and improving the lives of the citizens of Eswatini. “Therefore, this E12.5 million project has provided relief to the Ngololweni community by restoring water availability for multiple uses,” said Shabangu. The US added that government continued to invest in infrastructure projects that focussed on harvesting and providing water to agricultural producers to help increase yields and reduce heavy reliance on direct rainfall.  

Problematic

Shabangu pointed out that the erratic climate change patterns that were experienced in the country proved to be problematic because some communities were unable to cultivate all their fields due to the scarcity of rains. She said many fields, even at Ngololweni, had been lying idle due to the harsh weather conditions that destroyed all they were trying to cultivate.
“With the completion of this dam, I am grateful to mention that this is now a thing of the past because as a community, we are going to restore what used to happen in the past, that is, cultivate our fields since we now have water throughout the year that is going to increase our agricultural production,” said Shabangu.

She noted that ESWADE continued to carry out its mandate of providing continued support in lifting project beneficiaries from abject poverty, to running businesses that were both profitable and sustainable, including access to potable water and sanitation for the targeted communities. Shabangu added that the community of Ngololweni has been assisted to protect its wetland by fencing it off to ensure that the ecosystem was not disturbed by anthropogenic and livestock related activities.  “I am happy to note that limiting this activity has improved the population of previously threatened flora and fauna species and increased the species richness through secondary succession. I am quite happy to note that through such interventions, there are ecosystems benefits,” said Shabangu.

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