THOUSANDS of villagers are set to benefit from a solar powered borehole drilling scheme where nutritional gardens would also be set up to boost food security as the country battles the harsh impacts of climate change.
The project is led by a local private company, Prevail Group International, which is one of the major players in the Presidential Borehole Drilling Scheme.
Under the programme, beneficiaries in various districts will receive solar-powered boreholes to ensure access to clean water as well as for secondary use to water their nutritional gardens.
The project is in line with the Presidential Rural Development Programme where th government plans to set up 35 000 Village Business Units and 9 600 School Business Units by 2025.
Government says the initiatives will help drive rural industrialisation and boost food security in the face of climate change induced droughts.
Prevail group boss, Paul Tempter Tungwarara, who is also a Presidential Investment Advisor, said the project cost runs into millions of United States dollars.
“At Prevail Group International, we have heeded the President’s call to play a leading role in the development of the country, we have introduced various projects not only limited to supply of clean water but also solar power through a project that has been piloted in Glen View where roofs will be turned into mini-power stations and feed into the national grid,” Tungwarara said.
In March, Prevail Group launched a pilot solar powered project in Harare’s Glen View suburb that will feed into the nation grid.
The project is backed by the government, and the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC).
Solar power has been identified as a necessary intervention to the country’s crippling electricity outages.