Online Reporter
Theseus Shambare recently in MARONDERA
THE Government has intensified efforts to integrate more than 2,3 million youths into productive sectors of the economy through an ambitious rollout of vocational and village-based business units designed to anchor rural industrialisation and enterprise development.
The programme will see the establishment of 64 Vocational Training Centre (VTC) Business Units nationwide, alongside 35 000 Village Business Units, 9 600 School Business Units and 4 800 Youth Business Units as part of a coordinated national drive to modernise skills development and stimulate grassroots production.
Durung the National Youth Day celebrations in Marondera last week, Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training Minister Tino Machakaire said the initiative directly targets more than 2,3 million youths who are neither in education nor employment.
“We have more than 2,3 million youths who are neither in education nor employed. This is part of the solution,” he said.
“With the youth service training centre, we will equip them with skills, provide orientation on national values and prepare them to participate meaningfully in the economy.”
Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) chief executive officer Tinotenda Mhiko provided a detailed overview of the vocational training business model, which integrates production with education.
“This is IGAVA, now named the Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Vocational Training Centre Business Unit, which operates as a component of the Presidential Rural Development Programme and a sub-component of Rural Development 8.0.
“Upon full operationalisation of the model, we will have 64 Vocational Training Centre Business Units, supported by 35 000 Village Business Units — one for every village — 9 600 School Business Units, and 4 800 Youth Business Units, two per centre. The implementation is structured on key fundamentals to ensure sustainability and impact,” he said.
He said the programme is underpinned by four main principles.
“Availing water as a constitutional right for all Zimbabweans, both for agricultural and household use. Number two is about economic empowerment because the centres operate on a profitable and viable business case. Number three, nutritional security is guaranteed through high-vitamin horticultural crops and protein-rich fish. And number four, we are restoring dignity for women and girls who previously had to walk long distances to fetch water; now they have piped water schemes,” he said.
Mr Mhiko also highlighted the financial and governance structure of the centres.
“Each unit is registered under the Companies and Other Business Entities Act and operates as a professional agricultural entity.
“This allows us to create a balance sheet that unlocks credit for both capital and operational expenditure. During the production season, beneficiaries are employed, and at the end of the season, the profit after tax is shared equally among them, making them both shareholders and employees. Management is done under the V-30 accelerator model to ensure discipline and efficiency,” he said.
He emphasised the broader impact of the centres.
“This approach creates employment and economic empowerment. Our youth are productively engaged, idleness is reduced and we are fostering entrepreneurship. Young people learn hands-on agricultural production, financial management, input procurement, marketing, and profit-sharing. It is also a centre of excellence for vocational training and will produce future entrepreneurs capable of contributing meaningfully to rural industrialisation,” he said.
These centres, Mr Mhiko said, are not just about skills.
“They are engines of economic transformation. They combine social, nutritional and financial benefits, and the model is fully scalable nationwide,” he said.
Peter Tanyanyiwa