Luke Mafuma, an engineer in MBB’s Grahamstown office, assisted with MBB Nelspruit’s installation of the Malawi Nchalo (Illovo) conversion of 460 ha from sprinkler to drip irrigation as part of their yield recovery programme. His role as the Project Manager and Resident Engineer saw him spend about four months on the estate, staying on site 28 days at a time.Many challenges were experienced, similar to those of the first phase, which soon became known as “lessons not learnt.” These challenges included:

• • Difficulty in meeting project deadlines, resulting in the risk of cane seed being too old to plant.
  • Delayed land preparation resulting in costly power harrowing in order to achieve acceptable seed beds.
  • Onerous procurement practices. Most purchase requisitions needed at least 5 signatures for approval. Many requisitions had to be referred to headquarters for approval, even for goods purchased locally.
  • Late delivery of steel fittings and motor control panels thus having to resort to the use of temporary fittings.
  • Contentious quality control, with the contractor not heeding instructions.
  • Limited dedicated transport for project workers resulting in reduced productivity and delays.
  • Technical constraints included:
    • Shallow groundwater levels resulting in collapsing trenches, as well as requiring dewatering over extended periods before work could recommence.
  • Extremely high sediment load in the water which clogged the filters, requiring excessive backwashing. Alternative settling methods were then planned.