By Lwazi Dlamini
The Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (EWADE) has a grand plan in place to ensure the country keeps its lights on irrespective of whether the contract with ESKOM is renewed or not in 2025.
Through power generation from Bana grass, aptly named the ‘miracle’ grass, EWADE has already engaged a South African company called CO-CABORN to help resolve the country’s electricity crisis.
Eswatini currently imports about 70 per cent of its electricity from neighbouring countries like Mozambique, but it mostly imports from ESKOM, South Africa.
Eswatini’s contract with South Africa’s state-owned energy provider, ESKOM expires in 2025. The government of Eswatini has indicated that it wants to become energy-independent and is interested in renewable energy.
EWADE in its 2022-27 strategy, has presented a fool-proof plan through the Bana grass which can be grown in both irrigation and rainfed conditions and is capable of producing 10 megawatts in just 1 000 hectares.
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Delivering a presentation to the Editor’s Forum at Ghost Mountain Hotel in Mkhuze, South Africa on Friday, Consultant Enock Dlamini explained that through the Renewable Energy Infrastructure, they want to embark on the project that will help ease the electricity crisis in the country to such an extent that Eswatini can export electricity to other countries.
“Bana grass takes six to eight months to grow and harvest. We are looking at 30,000 hectares which would produce about 375 megawatts and currently the country needs 180 megawatts, and we would have enough electricity to even export to other countries. On top of that, the Bana grass has biproducts which include organic fertilizer and cattle feed which is very expensive right now,” Dlamini said.
Dlamini said the local farmers and private sector will benefit a lot as they will be the ones to grow the Bana grass, also known as Nappier grass.
Echoing Dlamini’s words was EWADE Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Samson Sithole who said the country is on the right track on the renewable energy transformation and as an organisation, they want to assist government overcome the electricity challenge.
“There is already a mobilizing committee for this project, and we believe this route will help address a lot of gaps also through the Bana grass biproducts,” Sithole said.
EWADE Director of Projects Bongani Magagula told Eswatini Sunday that the power generation through the Bana grass came after the CEO Dr Sithole attended an Investment Conference in Cape Town where project presentations were made.
“We have already engaged the South African company and introduced it to the Ministry of Agriculture, Finance, Natural Resources and also EIPA so that they can be vetted and follow all the right procedures. They have indicated they only need 20,000 hectares where they can use rainfed in one half and irrigation in the other half. This is a good project, and it will help solve the electricity crisis for the country,” Magagula said.
Meanwhile, EWADE will be implementing two projects costing E921 million which will see over 123 000 emaSwati who are currently jobless catapulted from the jaws of poverty.
The two projects which the Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise will soon implement are the Smallholder Agricultural Activity Enhancement Project (SAPEMP) worth E851 million targeting 117 600 people and the FAO – GEF 8 Systems Project worth E70 million aimed at transforming 5,000 emaSwati’s lives.
This good news was announced by EWADE Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Samson Sithole on Friday during an Editor’s engagement and tour of the under-construction E2.6 billion Mphakeni Dam and the Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project Phase II (LUSIP II).
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Dr. Sithole said the overall of goal of SAPEMP is to contribute to the sustainable reduction of poverty in the rural Eswatini. According to the CEO, the eight-year project will benefit almost all the Tinkhundla of the Kingdom of Eswatini.
Sithole said the project will see about 17,000 smallholder farmers and households directly benefiting.
He said the target groups for the project are the socio-economic groups.
“Micro and small entrepreneurs in need of technical and financial assistance to become sustainable commercial farmers. Also, the rural HHs, who already meet their minimal needs, but who remain vulnerable.
About the FAO – GEF 8 Systems Project, Dr Sithole said the project seeks to support Eswatini to catalyse the transformation to sustainable food systems that are nature-positive, resilient and pollution-reduced. He went on to say the project will focus explicitly on sustainable, regenerative, nature-positive production systems and support effective value/supply chains covering key commodities such as maize, beans and livestock.