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Sikhulekelani Moyo, mskhulekelani16@gmail.com
GOVERNMENT has teamed up with different developmental partners to craft the National Insurance Strategy on Rural Water Infrastructure, which seeks to improve rural livelihoods through sustainable water access for domestic and irrigation purposes.
The strategy is expected to help communities quickly recover if disasters related to climate change damage water infrastructure in rural areas, such as irrigation systems and boreholes.
In an interview, yesterday on the sidelines of a three-day validation workshop on developing the National Insurance Strategy on Rural Water Infrastructure happening in Bulawayo, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Ministry director in charge of irrigation development, Dr Bezzel Chitsungo, said the strategy has been motivated by the need for the nation to prepare itself in the context of climate change where infrastructure has been affected due to extreme weather events.
He said extreme weather events have vandalised critical infrastructure, which has seen rural communities losing their source of livelihood.
“We need to come as a community to sharpen ourselves together with colleagues from the insurance sector to look at other interventions besides those that the Government has employed towards ensuring sustainable operations and maintenance of these schemes,” said Dr Chitsungo.
“We want to have a layer of insurance to assist where, if we get affected but we are not prepared capital-wise, we can intervene immediately to restore the livelihoods of the people in no time. Hence to come up with a strategy for insurance of rural water infrastructure.”
The validation workshop is being attended by representatives of different rural district councils across the country, insurance houses, banks, and Government officials from irrigation and water departments.
Dr Chitsugo said Cyclone Idai was one of the disasters, which saw the destruction of infrastructure, taking the Government together with developmental partners more than a year to restore critical facilities like irrigation and water supply.
“Up to now we still have some areas we still working on to restore the normal situation after Cyclone Idai. So, if we have insurance, it will help if we experience a shock of that nature, we can quickly restore infrastructure and livelihoods for the communities,” he said.
Working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development is implementing the Climate Adaptation and Energy Programme (CAWEP) in four districts to establish climate-smart water infrastructure.
The programme will see the establishment of irrigation facilities and solar-powered boreholes in Binga, Insiza, and Chivi.
CAWEP project manager Dr Solomon Mutambara said CAWEP is a five-year project funded by the British Embassy to the tune of 13,6 million Pounds.
He said they aim to help the insurance industry come up with tailor-made packages for the communities to ensure that they bring hands together to come up with a strategy that will facilitate the rural water infrastructure can be sustainable.
“We are challenging all the players within the sector to ensure that the communities and farmers can bounce back better after a disaster happens,” said Dr Mutambara.
“Where we have a community that is covered by insurance, the bouncing back better becomes faster and that will not affect their water supply and production cycle if it’s an irrigation scheme.”
He said CAWEP is in the process of developing a 50-hectare irrigation scheme in Chivi, a 30ha irrigation scheme in Wanezi, and has already completed a 20ha scheme in Binga.
Dr Mutambara said after the completion of the projects they will invite insurance companies to come up with insurance products that will help in climate-proofing the schemes by covering them with a tailor-made product.
As Zimbabwe grapples with the challenges of increasing climate variability, the need to ensure the agriculture sector has been amplified, with smallholder farmers being urged to take up policies to protect their production against climate shocks. —@SikhulekelaniaM1
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