BULAWAYO - Farmers and villagers in Nyamandlovu and Umguza areas of Matabeleland North are reportedly paying R50 for a 20 litre bucket of water from a few farmers who are lucky to have boreholes as water problems hit the farming areas.Nyamandlovu and Umguza are the only areas in this arid province where there is intensive crop production, but lack of electricity and vandalism of irrigation material and water pumps by resettled farmers has led to a serious water shortage which is also threatening winter crop production.
Farmers expressed their concern at an annual provincial congress organised by the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union in Bulawayo where they deliberated various issues including load shedding, restocking and lack of inputs.
It is painful that we buy water when we have a river that flows past our province where we could harvest some water. Authorities should do something about this issue especially since there is the Nyamandlovu aquifer nearby, said one farmer from ward 19 in Umguza.
They also raised concern over the plight of women, who they said had resorted to working on other farms in return for water for domestic use.
When contacted for comment, Matabeleland North provincial administrator, Latiso Dlamini, who also attended the meeting, said she was not aware of the development and would consult further to establish whether the farmers concerns were genuine.
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