Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
President Edgar Lungu says he is heartbroken that only two percent from Zambia’s abundant water resource is currently being harnessed for irrigation.
President Edgar Lungu says the Country’s water resource has the potential to irrigate about 3 million hectors of land.
He states that despite this abundant water resource, however, he has also observed that only 28 percent is harnessed for hydro power generation while 70 percent remains untapped.
Speaking when he officiated at the handover ceremony of the newly constructed US $28.3 million Mwomboshi Dam in Chisamba District, President Lungu thought that Zambia could do better than this.
President Lungu says he has nonetheless been informed that there are four other project sites in the Country with the potential for irrigation development which have already been identified.
He states that government’s target is to roll out irrigation infrastructure development to increase the volume of water being harnessed for irrigation from 2 percent to 20 percent by the year 2030.
President Lungu says through this development it is expected that Zambia’s vision to transform into a middle income country will be realized by the year 2030.
He says he is therefore delighted that the Mwomboshi Dam whose capacity is to irrigate 6,000 hectares is already bearing fruits as evidenced by the 230 housing units that have benefited from the project.