MORE than 3,000 farmers have benefitted from JICA’s capacity development for the promotion of irrigation scheme development, through a TANCAID project which winds up in August, this year.
Speaking after touring the Mtazamo and Bahi Sokoni irrigation schemes, Chief Counterpart of the TANCAID programme which started in 2015 under the support of JICA, Eng Remigius Rushomesa said the project which cost 5bn/- has been of great success.
He said the project covered more than 100 districts countrywide, where it has increased harvest and improved socioeconomic welfare of the population around the scheme.
Eng Rushomesa said that in the project area the harvest increased from two to three tonnes per hectare before the training, and after the capacity development training, it increased to between four to six tonnes a hectare.
On sustainability of the training, Mr Rushomesa, who is also the Director of Operations Division at the National Irrigation Commission, said they have availed farmers with Comprehensive Guidelines.
He said the guidelines stipulate the best practice to be adhered by the farmers in the irrigation schemes under the district development plans on how they will contribute to the sustainability.
“We have made them to know that the project is theirs, and they have to own it, therefore its sustainability depends on how best they will take care of them,” he said.
Through the guidelines, they plan water distribution schedule, infrastructure renovation and maintenance and finance among other things.
Earlier, Bahi District Executive Director (DED), Dr Fatma Mganga said irrigation schemes have been a backbone of the district revenue generation.
She said they are planning to set up a rice processing and packaging factory so that farmers benefit from their efforts through value addition.
Moreover, she said they will brand the Bahi rice since many people are buying their product and rebrand it to show that the rice is from their area, which is not the case.
She expressed the district’s commitment to ensure they renovate irrigation infrastructure so that people can engage more in irrigation farming which is of paramount importance to the economic wellbeing.
Dr Mganga said they engage farmers on planning the best practice which will oversee sustainability of the irrigation schemes because its existence is for their own benefit.
“Through such meeting, we have agreed that from this farming season, farmers, from their harvest, will contribute one sack of paddy for the irrigation system’s maintenance and infrastructure renovations,” said Dr Mganga.
Adding “Previously, we were on agreement that they contribute 20,000/- annually for the irrigation schemes and council revenue, but after a meeting to discuss how to improve the performance, they resolved for a sack of paddy, which is worth 60,000/-, of which 40,000/- is channeled for scheme’s infrastructure development and the rest as council revenue”.
