BIG BEND – EWADE has unveiled a comprehensive participation model outlining how farmers and private investors will jointly benefit from downstream agro-processing industries under the MNWAP.
The model, presented by Project Manager Gcina Gamedze during the Editors Forum held last week, positions value-addition at the core of the project’s upcoming benefit-realisation phase.
Gamedze explained that Mkhondvo-Ngwavuma Water Augmentation Project (MNWAP) is transitioning from heavy civil works to a development phase intended to directly uplift households through agro-industrial activity.
The focus is now on building agro-processing capacity around the project area – particularly in cotton ginning, milling, canning and animal feed manufacturing.
These industries will allow communities to shift from selling raw produce to producing higher-value goods destined for domestic and export markets.
“The gains made through irrigation and water infrastructure will only translate into real rural development if we build industries that add value to what farmers produce,” Gamedze emphasised.
A central element of the presentation was that Eswatini requires over E30 billion in downstream agro-processing investment. Government, Gamedze stressed, cannot shoulder this cost alone, especially given the long-term investment horizons and commercial risks associated with agro-industrial ventures.
“As government, we can provide the enabling infrastructure – dams, irrigation schemes and bulk water systems– but the private sector must now lead in mobilising the capital needed to operationalise these industries,” he said.
He added that the traditional Agriculture Level 1 model used in KDDP and LUSIP 1 is no longer feasible because it places too much responsibility on government and takes too long to yield returns.
Gamedze highlighted that agro-processing could triple income returns for rural farmers and entrepreneurs when compared to primary production alone.
The project deliberately excludes sugar cane from its downstream portfolio, ensuring that MNWAP focuses on diversified, high-potential commodities with broader community participation.
The participation model includes a structured, transparent approach to beneficiary identification.
An independent consultant is guiding the process, using legislation, social dynamics, geographic boundaries and Traditional Authority (TA) input.
According to Gamedze, traditional leaders (chiefs) have already given the project the green light, recognising its potential to reduce poverty and expand rural economic participation.
Even ahead of full-scale agro-processing investments, MNWAP is already delivering significant benefits in its catchment area.
“These are early indicators of the kind of transformation MNWAP will bring once the full agro-processing value chains come online,” Gamedze noted.
*Full article in our publication
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