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The Committee for the Facilitation of Agriculture
between Mozambique and South Africa is a dream come
true for many farmers in the Nkomazi area of
Mpumalanga. According to the COFAMOSA arrangement,
South African farmers will receive a 40% allocation of
the proposed 29 000 hectares irrigation development
for a period of 45 years. In exchange for the 45-year
renewable lease, farmers will share their business and
agricultural skills with their Mozambican counterparts
as part of a skills transfer and job creation
initiative.
“This R3.7 billion cross-border project is a first of
its kind in the Southern African Development Community
(SADC). We were extremely proud when we were appointed
as Project Engineers, as it meant that we could
contribute to improving the lives of thousands of
farmers in the Moamba district,” says Bernard Masher,
Civil Engineering Technician at Du Plessis & Burger
Consulting Engineers.
The findings of Masher’s pre-feasibility study
delivered some interesting results. The investigation
confirmed that there is sufficient high potential
irrigation land available along the Komati and Sabie
rivers. There is also enough water available for
irrigation purposes from the Corumana dam on the Sabie
River. This dam was constructed in the late eighties
and provides an excellent supply of water for the
proposed 29 000 ha irrigation development.
“According to our study, we found that it would be
viable to raise the Corumana Dam in order to increase
its gross storage capacity from 880 to 1375 mill m³.
This will cause the Sabie River to back up into the
Kruger National Park across the South African /
Mozambique border. The raising of the Corumana Dam is
currently in progress with a $38,0 mill funding from
the World Bank,” notes Masher.
The project has significant implications for the
district of Moamba and the Mozambican national
economy. It has the potential of generating a total |
of 18 000 permanent jobs and 7 500 additional ones.
This equates to more than 70% of all the economically
active people in the area. Furthermore, additional
people will be trained on construction skills for
irrigation infrastructure and these people will be
responsible for maintaining the infrastructure during
implementation.
A total of two hundred farmers were selected for the
first phase of the project, of which eighty are from
the South African Nkomazi region and 120 from
Mozambique. The 29 000 ha irrigation development will
be developed in three phases, with phase one and two
consisting of 10 000 ha each and phase three 9 000 ha.
According to Masher, the advantages of farming with
sugar cane and other irrigated crops are numerous. “It
has a relatively low operating cost when compared to
other dry land crops and the capital invested is far
easier to manage, preventing financial mismanagement.
Irrigated agriculture is also relatively easy to grow,
allows financially sound crops to be selected, and
because of the relationship between the farmer and the
agro-businesses, is easy to finance and collect debts
and production credits. In addition, the export of the
crop has the capacity of generating huge amounts of
foreign currency for the Mozambique economy.”
Civil engineering software will be used quite
extensively in the actual feasibility study, requiring
an in-depth engineering investigation with the help of
Civil Designer and AllyCAD. The investigation will
focus on a major bulk irrigation water supply system,
bulk electricity supply, road infrastructure,
irrigation land and agro-business developments.
Bulk water, electricity distribution and tarred roads
will not only impact on the farming community alone,
as the electricity will become available to all
households in the area. In addition, the upgraded
roads will improve tourist access and benefit the
local economy, allowing the local and national economy
to receive a substantial boost.
“We have proposed that the government fund the bulk
infrastructure in the proposed developed area, while
farmers fund their in-field irrigation equipment and
production cost through loan funding. The new
agro-businesses will be funded by private
enterprises,” explains Bernard.
This kind of investment will have major long term
benefits for the national economy of Mozambique and
the expenditure on bulk infrastructure will be repaid
over time by the government from water levies and the
income tax that the farmers and the agro-businesses
will be paying. The Cofamoa Irrigation Development
project will take a total of nine years to implement. |
