Tanzania to establish irrigation centre for EAC Member states

Irrigation is the most important activity in farming as it helps to make agriculture grow despite low rainfall levels in the country. In view of this, Tanzania government is planning to introduce the first ever centre of excellence on irrigation training to serve East African countries. The training centre to be established at Oljoro with exemplary farm and man-made lake, is the brainchild of Arusha Technical College’s (ATC) irrigation engineering department. It was established to devise modern ways of farming that free farmers from extreme reliance on rains. Dr Richard Masika who initiated the project during his tenure as ATC Rector, said the centre will comprise of farms, classrooms, hostels and laboratories to make the facility one of the learning centres of excellence in the East African region. The irrigation training hub was made possible under the auspices of Japanese universities-- Kyushu, Scuba and Kobe. “Most of the irrigation projects in Tanzania and East Africa as whole are executed in areas that already have water and receive rain but to really make changes, irrigation should be operated in arid andsemi-arid areas,” said Dr Masika. ATC acting Rector Dr Masoud Senzia revealed that Japan, which supported the irrigation centre’s establishment has already completed the eightyear contract, but will continue to assist ATC in improving and expanding the facility to attain its goal. “Among the achievements is the training of ATC teaching staff, who were dispatched to Japan for studies,” explained Dr Senzia. The irrigation project under 150 acres is being established under ATC, with funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). 

An irrigation equipment pumping water to far crops in the farm.

Tanzania is rolling out modern farming initiatives to achieve the national target of ensuring one million hectares of arable land are under irrigation schemes by 2020. The Acting Director of National Irrigation Commission (NiRC), Engineer Seth Luswema, pointed out that the only way to combat effects of climate change and deal with natural disasters like floods is to invest heavily in irrigation schemes. “Because we can intercept flood water before it can cause disasters, tapping the flows and channel the currents into irrigation schemes to water crops or replenish reservoir dams,” stated Engineer Luswema. The acting NiRC Director said the National Irrigation Master plan 2018 will soon be launched to help the nation transform agricultural activities from rain fed crop cultivation, into allseason irrigation farming. “It (master plan) aims at expanding farming areas under irrigation and also overhauling the existing schemes that still operate through outdated traditional irrigation structures,” he said. It is reported that nearly 465,000 hectares are under irrigation, accounting for a mere five per cent of the country’s total estimated 29.4 million hectares suitable for cultivation. Engineer Luswema said that despite the limited area of irrigated land, over 24 per cent of the total food production in the country came from farms under irrigation scheme