 Mtwango Irrigation Project in Zanzibar was created out of the Public Works Program (PWP) of TASAF I, when US$82,000 was administered under the Chief Minister’s Office to finance 1.5 kilo meters concrete canal construction. Over 40 percent of the funding went into unskilled labor, while the balance was used to finance the purchase of steel, cement, and other inputs not available within the community. The earth canal was initially built with FAO/UNDP assistance.
There were problems of stability, which led to high water losses by evaporation and sippage. After rehabilitation, the total protected canal for the scheme is now 2.5 km and irrigates a total of 78 hectares of paddy rice. The support from TASAF in 2003 had a number of benefits: As the canals were constructed using labor intensive technologies, wages were paid out to 141 unskilled men and women, which enabled them to increase household incomes, with positive benefits on nutrition, clothing, and schooling for children. More water for irrigation is now available, and, for most of the farmers, planting could be done twice a year instead of once. This has led to increased production per plot under cultivation. A total of 417 households are able to farm a minimum of 0.1 hectare of paddy each, with annual yields more than doubled from 2.5 tons to 6 tons per hectare. Households on average sell about one-third of their produce (to meet costs of school fees and other household needs), and keep the balance for consumption. Each household contributes 50 kilograms of unpolished rice to the Water User Association to cover management costs. Committee members of the water users association were provided with training in water resource management. Flooding of the land has been reduced because the water now goes down the canal.
Beneficiaries sound off
“First you eat, then think, and then send children to school” says Mr. Alfonso Petro to express the importance of food security before all else. “I have six children I educate from this project” noted Mr. Bundala Machalo, previously one of the poorest men in the village. “I was divorced and left with three children, and this project has helped me support them,” said Ms. Chausiku Hassan, one of the women who worked on the PWP and is a leader in the MWUA. “I did not have a house, now I do and my children go to school” commented Ms. Amina Suleiman Juma, another woman in the project. Though support from government, the community has been able to acquire a rice dehuller and mechanical tillers to improve production and the quality of produce. Organization The policy-making body is the Mtwango Water User Association (MWUA), which works through five smaller Water User Associations (WUAs). The MWUA motivates farmers to adopt modern farming techniques, while overseeing that farmers keep the canal clean, levying fines on those who fail to clean the section of canal they use. The MWUA also administers land tenure rules on behalf of the whole community. The plot belongs to a household, and can therefore be inherited by the spouse or siblings on the death of the household head. Women are also owners of these plots in their own right. When the President of Zanzibar visited the project, the community decided to allocate him 0.1 ha of paddy. He has been a model farmer, and gives the produce to charitable organizations. The community is proud to have the president as one of its members. Future plans The MWUA intends to do the following:  Build secondary canals to reduce water loss and increase efficiency in water use Improve the water in-take so that another 22 hectares can be opened up for new farmers Protect wetlands that threaten some of the primary canal embankment. Open a farm shop to sell rice from the MWUA Open up more land to increase minimum household land sizes from the 0.1 hectare to at least double Manage a farm inputs credit scheme for members (by the MWUA) so that all members can get inputs on time and therefore increase yields Ask the government to extend the electrical grid to the village and improve the access road Expand into vegetable gardening during the short rains when water levels are low and cannot support everyone to grow rice.
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