19 May 2008
Nguri — Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Monday began a working visit to the northern province of Cabo Delgado with a tour of the Nguri irrigation scheme, which has been completely paralysed for the past 15 years.
Certainly Guebuza hopes to bring Nguri back into production, as part of the government's strategy for a "green revolution" in Mozambique.
Located in Muidumbe district, in the basin of the Messalo river, Nguri ought to be able to irrigate 1,000 hectares. But no water flows. The pumps no longer work, and show signs of corrosion. There are reports that some parts have been removed from the pumps.
When the irrigation scheme was established in the late 1970s, it was part of Mozambique's agricultural cooperation with North Korea. The pumps are of Korean manufacture, and no-one seems to know where the manuals or technical specifications are.
The irrigation channels were not properly maintained. They have become choked with vegetation, and the various gates that should control the flow of water along the channels no longer exist. The whole system is vulnerable to flooding on the Messalo, since the protective dike is damaged.
When the irrigation scheme functioned, the main crop produced was rice, with smaller amounts of potatoes, onions and garlic. Now, peasant farmers in nearby villages still grow rice, while the Nguri Agro-Industrial Company concentrates its efforts on sunflower - but the crop is rain-fed, not irrigated.
It is believed that the Nguri irrigation scheme can be put back into working order, but fresh studies need to be undertaken particularly of the levels of salinity of Lake Nguri, of the water table, and of the soil to be irrigated.
Some investors have expressed interest in taking over the irrigation scheme, but the Cabo Delgado provincial government has warned that any company allowed to run Nguri must have proven technical and financial capacity.
Meanwhile, support should be stepped up for the peasant producers in the area, until investors are found who are capable of using the entire irrigated perimeter.
The provincial government also warns against turning the land over to investors whose real interest is in producing biofuels. This would run counter to government policy of using fertile land such as Nguri solely for food production, while crops used for biofuels are grown on marginal land.
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