• (10 marks) Discuss using your Assignment 2 project, the Project Management Plan in terms of its;
  • Deliverables
  • Scope management
  • Documentation
  • Traceability
• The Proposal is below:
• Project Proposal for the proposed Irrigation scheme in Okathima-Kanagolo village, Okalongo Constituency Omusati Region

Background

Okathima is a village situated in the Omusati region in the Northern part of Namibia. The closest towns to the village are Oshikuku, Oshakati, and Okalongo that are approximately 25km, 50km, and 20km respectively. Due to long distances and lack of transport to get fresh produce products such as vegetables which are vital for human nutrition. The crops to be grown are mainly; butternuts, cabbage, carrots, onion, tomatoes, maize. The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry want to establish a five hectares irrigation scheme project to help with the production of vegetables in Okathima and the surrounding villages. The main objective is to increase food production and create job employment.

ProjectAgri Agency cc is a is 100% Namibian owned company that provides Construction and project management services and is applying to provide project management services for the envisaged irrigation scheme project at Okathima. The project's most profit will be spent on improving the lives of the surrounding community and the Namibian nation at large. The target market is roadside stands in Okathima and close villages, farmer markets, restaurants, and public institutions with a monthly 12% growth expected. The project will contribute to the national economy through job creation and tax payments. Tax will be paid to the government thereby contributing to the national economy. ProjectAgri Agency cc will have an environmental management plan in place to manage chemicals that will be used on the farm.

Overall, the irrigation scheme will increase food security and improv land use in the Okathima.

According to the Environmental Management Act No.7 of 2007 and its Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation of 2012, the proposed project which is an irrigation scheme is a listed activity that cannot be undertaken without an environmental clearance certificate (ECC). Therefore, it is required that an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) should be carried out for the proposed irrigation scheme.

Objectives

The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry intends to establish a five hectares irrigation scheme in Okathima for the purpose of increasing fresh produce vegetables, thus cutting transport cost to towns that are far from the village.

Project Scope

The envisaged irrigation scheme will be operated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry on an abandoned five-hectare field (see figure 1 below) in Okathima. Currently, the field has plants such as Pechuel-Loeschea Leibnitzian (Bitter bush), Hyphaene petersiana (Palm trees), and Sclerocarya birrea (Marula trees). The irrigation scheme is expected to employ about ten people from the community.

The irrigation project will take place on an abandoned five hectares field which has not been used for about ten years that the five households acquired from the headman as per traditional authority act. Hence the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Forestry (MAWF) has all land rights to operate the irrigation scheme in the above-mentioned field. MAWF envisaged on the cultivation of a variety of vegetables such as butternuts, cabbage, carrots, onion, tomatoes, maize. This scheme will be five hectares small-scaled and will be designed to cater for local usage. The water supply for the irrigation system will come from the Canal that runs from the Olushandja dam to Oshakati which is about 500m from the field. The vegetables will be produced under sprinkler irrigation in the open for the first stages and later some greenhouse will be constructed.

Ministries such as Agriculture, Water, and Forestry (the project owners) and Environment and tourism will be involved since they are line ministries and regulates activities that are related to irrigation schemes. However, the local people will be involved by working in irrigation.

The proposed irrigation scheme will involve activities such as

• Fencing of the field
• clearing of the land for cultivation
• construction of a water pipeline from the canal to the field
• construction of agriculture irrigation system and storage of water
• Cultivation of the area (preparation of the soil such as plowing, manure and fertilizers application)
• Setting up the sprinkler irrigation system
• Setting up associated support infrastructure
• Seeding and transplanting of seedlings
• Weeding
• Pest and disease management
• Vegetable harvesting

The Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Forestry intended to establish an irrigation project to focus on providing employment, food security, and economics. Most labor for production will be sourced from the surrounding of Okathima except the farm manager that will be from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Forestry (MAWF). The Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Forestry (MAWF) aims for maximum tonne yield for all our crops. Seasonal crops like Maize will be harvested once a year while the other crops will be harvested twice a year. Drip irrigation or sprinkler irrigation system will be ideal for this project to succeed.

This growth will be achieved through lower production costs and an increase in quantity (tonne) sold. Effective marketing will be achieved through strong advertising and also by lowering the selling price to gain and retain market share.

Project rationale

The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry intend on establishing an irrigation system in the village called Okathima. This village in northern Namibia and the surrounding villages face challenges of poverty, HIV, high unemployment, and lack of good food sources vital for human health. Lack of adequate fresh produce such as vegetables that are vital for human nutrition leaves the village dependent on towns that are far to access. Most households are between twenty to thirty kilometers from the nearest town and which leaves most villagers without adequate food needed for human nutrition. To improve the resilience of this community from the above-mentioned issues, a community irrigation project is proposed for the size of five ha dedicated only to Okathima and the surrounding villages. Irrigation is very important in the agricultural sector and it practiced worldwide on about 270 million hectares. Furthermore, Irrigation makes a major contribution to food may it be in Namibia or the world at large (De Pascale, Dala Costa, Vallone, Barbieri & Maggio, 2011). Agriculture contributes about 3.3% to the Namibian's GDP (excluding fishing) (Meatco, 2017).

The establishment of the irrigation will aid in increasing the food supply in Okathima. The irrigation will complement the mission of the Agro Marketing and Trade Agency (AMTA) which is to enhance food security and to promote industrialization, value addition, and standards compliance of agriculture; products (AMTA, 2019).

Irrigation schemes are associated with negative impacts, especially to the environment. These impacts may include loss of vegetation when clearing the land, noise from the tractors, and water contamination. Due to the current disturbed of the land which is an abandoned field, there wont be a lot of vegetation clearing since most trees will be kept to provide shade to the vegetables that will be produced. Additionally, no road clearing should be done hence old tracks to access the field should be used and strictly adhered to. The noise produced should not hinder other activities taking place in the village therefore according to the Namibia health standards the noise should not be more than 80 decibels. This can be achieved by putting filters on the exhaust pipes of the tractors (Abiater and Bonifatius 2003). Regarding water contamination, crop rotation should be used as a mitigation measure to prevent the same usage of pesticides on the plants each year. Additionally, there might be cases of theft of the vegetables from the irrigation scheme hence security will be employed.

Despite the negative impacts, this irrigation scheme will have more positive impacts. The project is vital for socio-economic development because it will improve livelihoods. Moreover, the irrigation scheme will be creating job opportunities that will benefit the local community and enhance household income, increase food security in Okathima and the surrounding villages. Overall it will provide fresh produce such as vegetables that are essential for human nutrition.

Overall irrigation systems are good in the environment since they help to maintain the landscapes and helps to revegetate disturbed soils especially in dry areas such as Namibia. Additionally, irrigation scheme helps to maintain soil moisture (Bio Intelligence Service, 2014).

Project cost

The estimated total cost of the whole project is N N$650000 see Appendix 1 for Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

Timeline

The irrigation system is envisaged to start operating 15 months after the approval of the Environmental clearance certificate. See appendix 1 and 2 for the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Gant chart respectively.

Conclusion

The irrigation scheme is proposed on an abandoned piece of land within the village to meet the community needs of vegetables that are currently found in towns that are far from the village. The project will increase food security and also provide job opportunities to some locals. It is estimated that the irrigation scheme will be fully established only when an ECC is issued. Therefore, the project will start after this and its estimated to have a period 15 months before full operational and handover and it will be fully functioning as long as the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Forestry, employees, and community taking good care of it.