Living Land

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Rehabilitation of Chókwè irrigation scheme

The development objective of the Chókwè irrigation scheme

rehabilitation project was to enhance agriculture produc-

tion and productivity and consequently farmers’ income in

the Chókwè irrigation scheme area. This contributed to the

rehabilitation of the existing 50-year-old irrigation scheme

covering 7,000 ha as well as enhancements to agriculture

productivity.

The Chókwè irrigation scheme is located 250 km from

Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique. It is in the Gaza

Province, downstream of the Limpopo river and extended

along the eastern side of the river. Rehabilitation of the

irrigation scheme has improved the livelihood of the 5,000

smallholder farmers, enabling them to come out from

subsistence farming and become small commercial farmers.

The rehabilitation of the scheme improved the secondary

and tertiary canal network with flumes up to on-farm level.

Improved furrow irrigation was introduced on farms after

levelling the land. The project achievements include:

• existing water supply facilities were increased from 1,200

ha to 7,000 ha

• investment in irrigation facilities improved the

socioeconomic status of more than 5,000 smallholder

farmers and provided them with access to irrigated lands

• agriculture production increased, with main crop rice

yield increasing from 1 t/ha to 5 t/ha

• 2,120 km of water delivery canal was rehabilitated to the

flume system, increasing water efficiency from 62 per cent

to 96 per cent.

In the irrigation sector the main challenges are related to poor

management of irrigation and drainage systems, low levels of

land preparation and operation and maintenance costs which

affect agriculture productivity.

The main and primary irriga-

tion canals are running well, but secondary and tertiary canals

are still not rehabilitated. The tertiary canals, especially, are

seriously damaged as they were built in the late 1950s.

The local smallholder farmers are challenged with the

operation and maintenance of the on-farm scheme, which

identified a shortage of agricultural machinery and proper

agro inputs such as improved seeds, fertilizers and land prep-

aration. Thus, the irrigation area is developing slowly and

farming efficiency and crop yields are low. This area has very

productive soil, but a lack of agricultural investment and low

levels of agricultural technology has led to a great waste of

local agricultural resources and obstacles to the further devel-

opment of the regional economy.

The local smallholder farmers lack technical knowledge

of modern agronomic and irrigation practices as a result

of outdated or missing technology and a lack of technol-

ogy transfer infrastructure. Insufficient technology and

information are further exacerbated by the institutional

setting in which irrigators operate. One example of a

water management problem is the basis for determining

the irrigation water requirement for crops. Both irrigation

systems and crop varieties have changed considerably over

time as farm field sizes have decreased, groundwater levels

and mineralization have increased, cropping patterns have

diversified (particularly as centralized planning was abol-

The Chókwè irrigation scheme rehabilitation project aimed to enhance agriculture productivity and farmers’ income in the area

Image: IDB

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