Evaluating the link between irrigation rehabilitation and household nutrition security, among vulnerable smallholder farmers in semi-arid regions of Zimbabwe: a case of the Silalabuhwa irrigation scheme in Filabusi

Abstract

Amongst the most popular ways of dealing with hunger issues in arid areas is improving their irrigation infrastructure. Nonetheless, there has never been any literature that emphasize the impact of irrigation rehabilitation on improved nutrition for the locals, mostly in semi-arid environments in southern Africa. Thus, the research will be conducted through studying the experience at Silalabuhwa Irrigation Scheme situated in Filabusi, Insiza District, Matabeleland South Province in Zimbabwe, an area of 442 hectares and rehabilitated within 2019 to 2023 under the Smallholder Irrigation Development Project (SIDP). Being an area within Agro-ecological Region IV where the annual rainfall is mostly less than 650 mm, making it highly vulnerable to famine, Silalabuhwa offers an excellent platform for understanding whether or not irrigation rehabilitation would lead to notable dietary changes. The study aims three intricately related objectives. Firstly, to assess and compare Household Dietary Diversity Scores (HDDS) of SIDP irrigator beneficiaries with those of non-beneficiary dryland farmers living in the same environmental zone. Secondly, to establish if women of ‘reproductive age’ in the programme attain the minimum dietary diversity for Women (MDD-W) cut-off, i. e. five food groups; and thirdly, to investigate the contribution of SIDP-promoted bio-fortified crops mainly NUA 45 iron-and-zinc-rich beans, orange maize, and orange-fleshed sweet potatoes on the nutritional status of families involved. A mixed-methods approach was a selected method of study combining structured household survey questionnaires that were administered to 51 households through KOBO Collect, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews with AGRITEX officers and Irrigation Management Committee members. The quantitative data were firstly entered into a database and then statistically analysed with the support of SPSS software. Different analysis techniques such as ANOVA, post-hoc Tukey HSD tests, chi-square, and bivariate correlation were used. However, qualitative data were examined through thematic analysis. The results indicate that the difference in dietary diversity between the two groups was statistically significant. Beneficiary irrigators had a mean HDDS of 7. 54 whereas the non-beneficiaries scored 6. 31 on average (F = 15. 213, p = 0. 000), with 87. 0% and 74. 3% of the former and the latter respectively being classified as food secure. The Silalabuhwa scheme average of 6. 94 positions it among the top-performing SIDP schemes. For the MDD-W indicator, beneficiary irrigators had an average score of 5. 49 a little higher than the five-group cut-off while the scheme-level average of 4. 46 indicates that quite a number of women still do not get minimum micronutrient dietary adequacy, a situation partly due to the schemes relatively low agricultural income and the factional conflicts over the block farming tenure arrangement. On bio-fortified crops, 39. 22% of Silalabuhwa households used drought-tolerant varieties including orange maize, and the same percentage of families practiced diversified cropping that included NUA 45 beans. Beneficiary irrigators' consumption of legumes was 77. 8% instead of 52. 3% for non-beneficiaries, and tubers as 56. 5% versus 33. 9%, these consumption patterns directly account for part of the MDD-W difference observed. The study suggests that putting in irrigation system at Silalabuhwa was a key thing in raising household dietary diversity, actually it was the first hypothesis to be confirmed. But, there is still plenty of scope for other areas to perform better. Besides generating infrastructure, the SIDP voucher program has been instrumental in the introduction of bio-fortified crops and as a result diversified the food basket. Financial status and seed availability remain the main factors influencing nutritional security, mainly among women in their fertile years. Besides that, farmers who do not support the block farming system are another source of problem. For that reason, focusing on both food availability and economic empowerment is a key lesson for communities or projects alike to experience significant changes, says continuous efforts are necessary.