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Zimbabwe’s High Commissioner to Malawi Thandiwe Dumbutshena has described as visionary President Bingu wa Mutharika’s Green Belt and Irrigation and Water Development project which she said could feed the whole African continent if executed according to plan.
In an interview recently in Lilongwe, the envoy said this is one of the projects which can make Africa pull out of its poverty trap,
saying as new leader of the African Union, the project is very essential.
“…I am very impressed with the green belt project, it shows that Malawi will soon be a giant in food security,” she said.
Mutharika has placed food security is the priority among his priorities during his tenure of office as chairman of the African
Union.
The BBC quoted a governance expert from South Africa as saying Mutharika’s goals as leader of AU were achievable and more closer to the hearts of many Africans contrary to AU former chairman, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s vision of having one united Africa when the continent is having serious problems like hunger, food shortages and wars.
In his speech in parliament recently, the president said it is very important that all members of parliament, cabinet ministers, principal secretaries, NGOs and traditional chiefs fully understand the green belt programs.
“This is because when implemented this will change our development paradigm and our lives for the better. The main purpose of this program is to ensure adequate production of food and other food cash crops for the development of our country by irrigating up to twenty kilometers around the shores of lakes and major river banks,” said the president.
Mutharika said designs and preparatory work for some green belt irrigation projects have been completed and that work will start soon.
“Government plans to irrigate up to one million hectares of land to enhance the country’s production of a variety of crops such as maize, rice, wheat, legumes, peas, beans, sunflower and sugarcane,” he said adding the program will also encompass livestock and fish production and value addition.
He said to date, 111, 000 treadle pumps were distributed to smallholder farmers and 1, 300 motorised pumps to both small holder and large scale farmers in the country with 300, 000 smallholder farmers benefitting from irrigation farming initiatives.
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