MBABANE – A massive effort to have the 75 percent of the country’s arable land that was lost to degradation, has brought hope to many farmers in the Kingdom following that some of the degraded lands are now used for agricultural businesses.
According to the Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (ESWADE), the loss in economic terms was quite significant as it was estimated to be 100 million USD, which equals to 2.9 percent Gross Domestic Product (information provided by Ministry of Agriculture).
The ESWADE, as part of its efforts to raise awareness on Land Degradation, played a fundamental role in collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture (Land Use Planning Department) to restoring degraded lands.
Eswatini Positive News has established that about 37 Chiefdoms where the ESWADE SMLP are operational implemented its programme of restoring degraded lands.
In addition, ESWADE SMLP is engaging and empowering communities with skills and information on land rehabilitation and restoration.
Through these interventions tangible evidence on land restoration activities conducted continue to be achieved as more communities prove that they are ready for change.
ESWADE has stated that this is realized through broad consensus that it is not only desirable but possible to build forward better, towards sustainable development.
Some of the constituencies that have seen the reconstruction of hugely degraded lands are Nceka (Sikhunyane) and Ndinda.
In fact, a study carried out by the ESWADE SMLP (Land and Water Inventory study conducted on the 37 chiefdoms that make up the SMLP Project Development Area) revealed that some areas were badly eroded, and some were identified as having a high potential for erosion.
The Sikhunyane site: Located at Nceka Chiefdom under Siphofaneni Inkhundla, this site measuring five (5) hectares and construction works is estimated will cost E1.9 million once it is complete. The investment provided by the ESWADE includes mechanical land rehabilitation using gabion stones as sediment rapping structures, a solar-powered pump that will be used by the residents for water abstraction, and a water supply that will be used for irrigation and biological control using various tree species. Now that the land has been rehabilitated, the community intends to grow indigenous trees, fruits, and vegetables for commercial purposes for improved income and livelihood. The site was selected as a pilot site for bringing the previously eroded site under production (re-use). The site was selected for quite a number of reasons that include but are not limited to:
1. The soils in the area are good for agricultural development yet highly erodible which would mean that even after rehabilitating the existing dongas, erosion may start elsewhere if the soil is still left bare and unutilized,
2. The site has a perennial river passing by which was recognized as a source of water for any developments that could be done on the site,
3. the site was fenced off allowing any developments occurring inside the fenced area to be undisturbed, and
4. the site received interventions earlier on-in the project which allowed it to be the lead site in experiencing filling up of the dongas and vegetation re-growth allowing re-use of the land.
ESWADE has reported that the gullies obstructed routes that are used by the community to access services. It has also been stated that the community uses the same area as a graveyard hence losing more land to erosion would mean disturbance of the existing graveyards which have sentimental value and loss of land for future burials.
Indirect beneficiaries of the land restoration include the downstream users of the Mhlatuzane river and the users of the Lubovane Reservoir.
“Controlling the erosion in areas upstream of the dam means reduced sediment delivery into the river and subsequently the reservoir. These are some compelling reasons that led to the assistance in rehabilitating the gullies,” stated ESWADE.
On Sikhunyane: It has been reported that the rehabilitation project began in 2017 following the 2015/16 drought. The ESWADE participated in the works of this activity through its annual day of giving back to the community, called the ESWADE-Day where the entire ESWADE staff worked with the Nceka community to begin rehabilitation of the dongas. The works began with fencing of the site and installation of some gulley plugs using gabions filled with gabion stones. The 1.8m high veld span fence installed was supplied by the project and the community provided labor for the works. The fencing of the site was necessary to prevent further disturbance during the restoration process, mainly by livestock. This was recognized by the ESWADE SMLP as a great way to sensitize the community about the importance of erosion control and standing up to take measures against the rampant dongas in the country.
Ndinda gulley: The Ndinda gully is one of the largest gullies in the Ndinda community. The gully stretches for about a kilometre from the road on the South-Western side. Over the length, the donga varies in-depth with a mean depth of 15 metres and of late the expansion of the donga has been due to the collapse of the donga walls with every storm. The high rainfall and deep soils in the area have been the main causes of the rampant erosion in the area. The nearby homesteads and fields located along the donga including the Ndinda Umphakatsi were gravely threatened by the expansion of the donga.
