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s04shp-blog · 7 years

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Zimbabwe: Boost for Bulawayo Water Supply

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BULAWAYO water supplies will improve in five months when the Zimbabwe National Water Authority concludes the Epping Forest Project. The project will see water supplies to the city increasing by an additional 10 mega litres daily. Bulawayo needs about 135 mega litres a day, but is getting an average of 90 mega litres per day.Zinwa Gwayi catchment manager Engineer Chengeto Gozo said the Epping Forest project contractor was now on site.

"This project is part of the greater Nyamandlovu aquifer water supply managed by Zinwa. Currently, we are getting insufficient water from Rochester Farm in Nyamandlovu for Bulawayo amid the current water crisis," he said.

Eng Gozo said the completion of the project would alleviate the water crisis given that the other alternative sources of water for Bulawayo were drying up.

"When plans were made to expand the project from Rochester to Epping Forest Farm, our challenge was funding. We discussed with the city of Bulawayo and they agreed to fund it," he said.

Eng Gozo said the project was divided into two segments, Slot A which involves the setting up of pumps and Slot B where they would drill boreholes.

"The project is supposed to take six months and we expect to complete the project in the next five months. We are getting into the second month of the project and when we complete the two phases we will then start drawing water from the boreholes to a station and then to the city of Bulawayo reservoirs," said Eng Gozo.

Last year in April, council director of Engineering Services Engineer Simela Dube said the Epping Forest Project needed an estimated $4 million to complete.

"Council had passed a resolution and agreed to partner Government through Zinwa and contribute towards the cost of implementing this project. Letters have been written to the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to facilitate the project," Eng Dube said.

Bulawayo councillors on Thursday rejected a revised 72-hour water shedding schedule which was announced on Monday, saying council management implemented it without their input.

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The Zimbabwe Farm Project is a lean startup, small development project founded in 2015 to sow into the lives of others. Capitalized from the proceeds of my work as an IT consultant, this project was envisioned as a proof of concept to prove the viability of a non-traditional aid model. The objective of this project is to strengthen its beneficiaries through partnerships versus dependency, since ultimately this is the only path to self-sufficiency, empowerment, self-determination, and freedom.

#The Zimbabwe Farm Project

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s04shp-blog · 7 years

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Zimbabwe: Drought-hit farmers improve agriculture through science

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze46tFhoNhE

A Zimbabwean researcher at the International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement, Cosmos Magorokosho, is working on a new hybrid corn, able to withstand drought.

He leads a team that selects and crosses the varieties most efficient in water.

Basically, it means transferring genes from one plant to another type so that you create a new type that has the characteristics that you want.

As a result, a corn survived despite the high temperatures and low rainfall due to climate change and the El Nino phenomenon.

“Basically, it means transferring genes from one plant to another type so that you create a new type that has the characteristics that you want,”he said.

Zimbabwe formerly exported corn and was regarded as the granary of the Africa, but today, it imports two million tonnes per year.

This year the government declared a state of natural disaster, while two and a half million people depend on food aid.

“Compared to other seeds, these seeds survived the heat and dry conditions that we experienced and this resulted in a better harvest. I should have enough to last until February next year,” said Apollonia Marustvaka a farmer.

The researchers would like to spread the corn hybrid quickly in the regions most severely affected, but the process is delayed by the validation tests of the government. The scientists are already considering the conditions even more drastic in the future.

“The recent research says crops aren’t keeping up with the pace of climate change, and this is simply because as the environment warms, a crop will mature earlier than under the lower temperatures. When a crop matures earlier, it gives you less yield,” said Andy Challinor, professor at the University of Leeds.

This year, Zimbabwe’s cash-strapped government declared a “state of disaster” in most rural areas, with at least 2.4 million people in urgent need of food aid.

The Zimbabwe government is yet to approve the mass distribution of the seeds, but the product is already available at some agricultural outlets.

The drought is one of the key issues of the International Conference COP22 in Morocco. Solutions such as this corn could give hope to farmers and to populations which are struggling to survive.

Resource

The

Zimbabwe Farm Project

is a lean startup, small development project founded in 2015 to sow into the lives of others. Capitalized from the proceeds of my work as an IT consultant, this project was envisioned as a proof of concept to prove the viability of a non-traditional aid model. The objective of this project is to strengthen its beneficiaries through partnerships versus dependency, since ultimately this is the only path to self-sufficiency, empowerment, self-determination, and freedom.

#The Zimbabwe Farm Project

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s04shp-blog · 7 years

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Zimbabwe Farmers Counter Impact of Climate Change on Food With Science

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FILE - In this July 11, 2012 file photo, a farmer holds a piece of his drought- and heat-stricken corn while chopping it down for feed in Nashville, Ill. Scientists have connected man-made climate change to extreme weather, including deadly heat waves, droughts and flood-inducing downpours. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

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Drought-hit Zimbabwe farmers look to science to save crops

Under the scorching Zimbabwean sun, cattle seek shade among stunted thorn bushes in the drought-prone district of Zaka where crops wither due to increasing temperatures and changing weather patterns.

Severe lack of rain across southern Africa has hit the country hard, with government officials saying a quarter of the population faces starvation, and many villagers forced to survive on wild fruit.

Maize, the country's traditional staple crop, has suffered a series of poor harvests.

Late rains this year again wrecked the planting season, and the little that is growing has often been destroyed by heat.

It may not help the immediate crisis, but science is providing a glimmer of hope for smallholder maize farmers in Zimbabwe.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center -- known by its Spanish acronym CIMMYT -- is conducting trials in Zaka on hybrid maize seeds adapted to tackle drought and high temperatures.

The seeds are developed to survive dry conditions with 60 percent less water than normal and in temperatures of up to 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), according to CIMMYT researchers.

"If we get these new maize seed varieties that will help us a lot," said Ceaser Chavizha, a small smallholder in Zaka, located in Masvingo province, south of the capital Harare.

IMPROVE YIELDS

Like many farmers in the region who rely on maize produce, Chavizha has been forced to survive on food handouts as his crops have been reduced to dried husks.

"We cannot continue with handouts as we have fields that we can work on to produce food for our own, so we hope the new maize seeds will help us improve our yields," he told AFP.

Maize meal crops are ground and turned into mealie meal, used to make porridge and other food, but the El Nino-induced drought has wrecked arable fields, grazing pastures and water sources.

The drought scourge is high on the agenda at UN COP22 climate talks in Morocco, where world leaders and experts are discussing how to implement the landmark Paris Agreement that was signed last year.

The pact aims to cap global warming at below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), compared with pre-industrial levels.

A COUNTRY IN NEED

Once referred to as the breadbasket of Africa, Zimbabwe used to be an exporter of maize, but now aid organisations say the country requires about two million metric tonnes a year to feed itself.

Cosmos Magorokosho, a senior scientist and maize breeder at CIMMYT, said the ultimate goal of hybrids was to help farmers develop long-term sustainable agriculture.

"Basically it means transferring genes from one plant to another type so that you create a new type that has the characteristics that you want," he said.

He said CIMMYT had received $500,000 funding from USAID to develop the new maize variety for drought-prone areas in east, central and southern Africa.

Magorokosho stressed that more funds were needed to extend the project, and criticised the Zimbabwe government's delay in adopting new maize hybrids.

"There is a layer of testing that is required by the authorities which is a little bit long... we would wish it is shortened so that the varieties can get quickly to the farmers," Magorokosho said.

CIMMYT, a non-profit research project headquartered in Mexico, is also working on a vitamin A-rich maize variety which is already in production in other parts of Africa and Latin America.

This year, Zimbabwe's cash-strapped government declared a "state of disaster" in most rural areas, with at least 2.4 million people in urgent need of food aid.

Sekai Makonese, another small-scale farmer in Zaka, welcomed the potential impact of scientific intervention, saying she was counting on hybrids becoming widespread as soon as possible.

"Long ago, we used to farm maize with no problems but now we have a problem with climate change and now our crops fail before we harvest," she said.

The Zimbabwe government is yet to approve the mass distribution of the seeds, but the product is already available at some agricultural outlets. (AFP)

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The

Zimbabwe Farm Project

#The Zimbabwe Farm Project

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s04shp-blog · 7 years

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Drought-hit Zimbabwe farmers look to science to save crops

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Zaka - Under the scorching Zimbabwean sun, cattle seek shade among stunted thorn bushes in the drought-prone district of Zaka, where crops wither due toincreasing temperatures and changing weather patterns.

Severe lack of rain across southern Africa has hit the country hard, with government officials saying a quarter of the population faces starvation. Many villagers are forced to survive on wild fruit.

Maize, the country's traditional staple crop, has suffered a series of poor harvests.

Late rains this year again wrecked the planting season, and the little that is growing has often been destroyed by heat.

It may not help the immediate crisis, but science is providing a glimmer of hope for smallholder maize farmers in Zimbabwe.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre - known by its Spanish acronym CIMMYT -\ is conducting trials in Zaka on hybrid maize seeds adapted to tackle drought and high temperatures.

The seeds are developed to survive dry conditions with 60% less water than normal and in temperatures of up to 35 degrees C (95 degrees F), according to CIMMYT researchers.

"If we get these new maize seed varieties that will help us a lot," said Ceaser Chavizha, a small smallholder in Zaka, located in Masvingo province, south of the capital Harare.

'Improve yields'

Like many farmers in the region who rely on maize produce, Chavizha has been forced to survive on food handouts as his crops have been reduced to dried husks.

"We cannot continue with handouts as we have fields that we can work on to produce food for our own, so we hope the new maize seeds will help us improve our yields," he told AFP.

Maize meal crops are ground and turned into mealie meal, used to make porridge and other food, but the El Nino-induced drought has wrecked arable fields, grazing pastures and water sources.

The drought scourge is high on the agenda at UN COP22 climate talks in Morocco, where world leaders and experts are discussing how to implement the landmark Paris Agreement that was signed last year.

The pact aims to cap global warming at below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees F), compared with pre-industrial levels.

A country in need

Once referred to as the breadbasket of Africa, Zimbabwe used to be an exporter of maize, but now aid organisations say the country requires about two million metric tonnes a year to feed itself.

Cosmos Magorokosho, a senior scientist and maize breeder at CIMMYT, said the ultimate goal of hybrids was to help farmers develop long-term sustainable agriculture.

"Basically it means transferring genes from one plant to another type so that you create a new type that has the characteristics that you want," he said.

He said CIMMYT had received $500 000 funding from USAID to develop the new maize variety for drought-prone areas in east, central and southern Africa.

Magorokosho stressed that more funds were needed to extend the project, and criticised the Zimbabwe government's delay in adopting new maize hybrids.

"There is a layer of testing that is required by the authorities which is a little bit long... we would wish it is shortened so that the varieties can get quickly to the farmers," Magorokosho said.

CIMMYT, a non-profit research project headquartered in Mexico, is also working on a vitamin A-rich maize variety which is already in production in other parts of Africa and Latin America.

This year, Zimbabwe's cash-strapped government declared a "state of disaster" in most rural areas, with at least 2.4 million people in urgent need of food aid.

Sekai Makonese, another small-scale farmer in Zaka, welcomed the potential impact of scientific intervention, saying she was counting on hybrids becoming widespread as soon as possible.

"Long ago, we used to farm maize with no problems but now we have a problem with climate change and now our crops fail before we harvest," she said.

The Zimbabwe government is yet to approve the mass distribution of the seeds, but the product is already available at some agricultural outlets.

Resource

The

Zimbabwe Farm Project

#The Zimbabwe Farm Project

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s04shp-blog · 7 years

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Design considerations for utility solar farms in Zimbabwe

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The picture shows a simplified utility solar farm that consists of a single grid-tied solar PV (photovoltaic) inverter connected to a transformer that is connected to the national electric grid. Each solar inverter is connected to thousands of solar PV panels.

According to recent media reports, some progress has been made on the long-awaited Gwanda solar project as evidenced by the deal that was signed by Intratrek Zimbabwe, Chint Power Systems and Zimbabwe Power Company (Sibanda 2015). Adding another 100 MW to the grid sounds great in theory until you look in the details and the controversy surrounding the project (Share 2016). The success of the project depends on the diligence and technical ability of stakeholders during the design, construction and operation phases. Solar engineers must consider factors such as the impact of load-shedding, intermittency of solar energy, cost, existing electrical noise on the grid, local climate, state of existing electric grid transmission and distribution infrastructure, risk of vandalism, risk of theft, long-term plant operation and maintenance strategy and bankability of the main contractor. I shall restrict my attention to the technical details of two factors: load-shedding and intermittency of solar energy.

Load-shedding

Load-shedding is the intentional shutdown of some areas of the national electric grid when there is a power shortage. As counter-intuitive as it may sound, load-shedding may limit the performance of the proposed Gwanda solar project. The reasons are found in the technical requirements of large utility solar farms, also known as solar photovoltaic (PV) grid-connected power plants. Utility solar farms, like the proposed Gwanda solar project, convert sun’s energy into electricity (direct current) using thousands of solar PV panels; change the electricity into a grid-friendly form (alternating current) using hundreds of special solar inverters also known as grid-tied solar PV inverters; and then transmit the electricity to the national electric grid to meet demand. The proposed Gwanda solar power plant must be connected to the grid because consumers are on the grid and it is expensive to store such large amount of electricity in batteries.

Technical challenges arise when the grid, which the solar PV power plant is connected to, is turned OFF during load-shedding. Most grid-tied solar inverters such as those likely to be used in the Gwanda solar project (Chint Power Systems’ CPS SCA500/630kW) are required to shut down when the grid shuts down (anti-islanding feature) as per IEEE 1547, IEC 62109 or IEC 61727 standards. Why shut down the solar inverters when the power is most needed? Well, two reasons: (1) to protect utility workers who may be doing repair work on the same electric grid as the inverters and (2) to prevent the solar grid-tied inverters from going out of sync with the electric grid’s voltage and frequency. The first of the aforementioned reasons comes natural to most people who have changed a light bulb or installed a new electrical socket in a house—always turn the main switch OFF before any repair work! If the grid is shut down, the solar inverter is shutdown as well and so there is no power to transmit to the national grid.

In the context of the current load-shedding schedule of 4AM to 10PM, the proposed Gwanda solar power plant will not be transmitting power to the grid from 4AM to 10PM (Mawonde 2015). Therefore, the proposed Gwanda solar power plant may not serve its purpose unless drastic measures are put in place to mitigate effects of load-shedding. Read more ….

The

Zimbabwe Farm Project

#The Zimbabwe Farm Project

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s04shp-blog · 7 years

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Zim droughtbusters develop seeds that need 60% less water

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTd6nF0MyRc

There have been a series of poor harvests of maize, the country’s traditional staple crop.

Under the scorching Zimbabwean sun, cattle seek shade among stunted thorn bushes in the drought-prone district of Zaka, where crops wither due to increasing temperatures and changing weather patterns.

Severe lack of rain across southern Africa has hit the country hard, with government officials saying a quarter of the population faces starvation. Many villagers are surviving on wild fruit.

There have been a series of poor harvests of maize, the country’s traditional staple crop. Late rains this year again wrecked the planting season, and the little that is growing has been destroyed by heat.

It may not help the immediate crisis, but science is providing a glimmer of hope for smallholder maize farmers in Zimbabwe. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre – known by its Spanish acronym CIMMYT – is conducting trials in Zaka on hybrid maize seeds adapted to tackle drought and high temperatures.

The seeds are developed to survive dry conditions with 60% less water than normal and in temperatures of up to 35ºC, according to CIMMYT researchers. “If we get these new maize seed varieties it will help a lot,” said Ceaser Chavizha, a smallholder in Zaka in Masvingo province.

Like many farmers in the region, Chavizha has been surviving on food handouts as his crops have been reduced to dried husks. The El Nino-induced drought has wrecked arable fields, grazing pastures and water sources. The drought is high on the agenda at UN COP22 climate talks in Morocco, where world leaders and experts are discussing how to implement the landmark Paris Agreement signed last year.

The pact aims to cap global warming at below two degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. Once referred to as the breadbasket of Africa, Zimbabwe used to export maize, but now aid organisations say it requires about two million metric tons a year to feed itself.

Cosmos Magorokosho, a senior scientist and maize breeder at CIMMYT, said the ultimate goal of hybrids was to develop long-term sustainable agriculture. “Basically it means transferring genes from one plant to another type so that you create a new type that has the characteristics that you want,” he said.

He said CIMMYT had received $500 000 (R7 million) funding from USAID to develop the new maize variety for drought-prone areas in Africa. More funds were needed to extend the project, and he criticised the Zimbabwe government’s delay in adopting new maize hybrids. “There is a layer of testing that is required by the authorities which is a little bit long … we would wish it is shortened so that the varieties can get to the farmers quickly,” Magorokosho said.

CIMMYT, a non-profit research project headquartered in Mexico, is also working on a vitamin A-rich maize variety, which is already in production in other parts of Africa and Latin America. This year, Zimbabwe’s government declared a state of disaster in most rural areas, with at least 2.4 million people in urgent need of food aid.

Sekai Makonese, another small-scale farmer in Zaka, welcomed the potential impact of scientific interventions, saying she was counting on hybrids becoming widespread soon.

“Long ago, we used to farm maize with no problems but now we have climate change and our crops fail before we harvest,” she said. The Zimbabwe government is yet to approve the mass distribution of the seeds, but the product is available at some agricultural outlets.

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Zimbabwe Farm Project

#The Zimbabwe Farm Project

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