Zambia to invest US $12m to construct 2nd largest dam

Zambia is going to get one more dam at an estimated investment of USD 12 million. A consortium of six commercial farmers in Serenje District of Central Province have come together under the umbrella name Luombwa Irrigation Company to construct a dam in Muchinda Chiefdom will have a capacity of 83-million cubic metres of water when filled to the brim and back flow of 6.1 kilometres.

Zambia’s dependence on rain-fed agriculture has not helped the nation much for 54 years and that the provincial administration in Central Province would want to use other God-given natural resources such as rivers to drive the agricultural sector. According to Central Province Permanent Secretary, Chanda Kabwe, his provincial team will not sit and watch the rivers throw the waters into the ocean without benefitting from them, as reported by Lusaka Times.

He further noted that the provisional administration is in support of the second largest dam’s construction in order to grow the agricultural sector for the province. The government, what he said, understands and values that with the increase in population till 2025, around 40 percent of that number will reside in Africa.

Therefore, the demand for agricultural produce, in terms of food will be on the increase and we need to position ourselves as Central Province not only to feed Zambia but the continent at large. Hence, the dam to be constructed will support irrigation and livestock as well as fish caging throughout the year. He stressed that the dam would create jobs for the local people also.