Zimbabwe Launches 50-Dam Blitz to Shield Agriculture from Climate Threats
Zimbabwe is intensifying its irrigation and water harvesting efforts, aiming to construct 50 small dams and weirs while upgrading existing farm reservoirs in anticipation of a potentially wetter-than-usual 2025–2026 La Niña summer cropping season.
This infrastructure push forms a key pillar of the National Irrigation Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme, which seeks to bring 350,000 hectares under irrigation by 2028 — a strategic move to safeguard food security amid increasing climate volatility.
The country already boasts over 10,500 water bodies, including major dams, weirs, and small reservoirs that support irrigation, livestock, fisheries, and rural water supply.
Authorities stress that maintaining and expanding these resources is essential to building agricultural resilience.
Engineer Edwin Zimunga, Chief Director for Agricultural Engineering, Mechanisation, Farm Infrastructure Development and Soil Conservation in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, emphasized the urgency of scaled-up conservation and infrastructure readiness.
“The face of climate change really requires that conservation — especially of our biodiversity and natural resources happens at a much bigger scale. Soil conservation remains a strategic pillar of agricultural production,” he said.
Zimunga noted that the current mid-dry spell is ideal for field preparations such as pegging, contour construction, drainage works, and levelling.
“The best time to start a Pfumvudza plot, to build contours or to construct field drainages is now. In the old days, we pegged and built contours before the rains to channel and retain water that has not changed. Only now we are doing it at a greater level because rains are more erratic and erosion more severe.”
He also warned that poor dam maintenance could have deadly consequences, citing incidents last season where breaches in small farm dams led to fatalities.
During a recent visit to the 156-hectare Pikinini-Jawanda Irrigation Scheme in Mwenezi, UNDP spokesperson Ms Pylaia Chembe praised the initiative:
“Our goal is to ensure that communities can thrive even under challenging climatic conditions.”
