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Elton Manguwo
All the dominos are now perfectly lined up for the realisation of the country’s Rural Development 8.0 strategy, with the Government through robust support programmes, targeting to use farming as a vehicle for the industrialisation of rural areas.
This comes as the Government has operationalised the various programmes such as Pfumvudza/Intwasa, the Presidential Poultry Scheme, the Presidential tick grease scheme and the Presidential Goat Scheme among others under the banner of rural development.
Developments on the ground are pointing towards the country’s realisation of the Rural Development 8.0 strategy even earlier than initially envisaged.
Speaking at the just ended 2023 strategic workshop in Gweru recently, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Dr Anxious Masuka said these outcome-based interventions directly impacted the attainment of rural development and rural industrialisation as causes, accelerators and multipliers.
In line with the Government’s vision of rural development and industrialisation the Ministry is distributing inputs to 3,5 million households for this year’s Presidential input scheme under the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme to ensure that small-scale farmers are food secure. The programme will also take care of the commercial side of things, said Dr Masuka.
“The Presidential Pfumvudza/Intwasa input scheme is the genesis of taking farming as a business at household level as the country aims to develop the agriculture sector into an US$8,2 billion economy by 2025,” said Dr Masuka.
In addition, the Government is rolling out the Presidential Goat Scheme as a counter measure to cushion the livestock sector against the effects of climate change while ensuring livestock businesses with capacity for exporting remain viable.
The Government’s launch of the US$87 million goat scheme that is aimed at capacitating the rural population with a goat herd can compete in serving the export market.
Dr Masuka added: “The Presidential goat scheme that benefited four million households is set to be the pilot project in expanding the country’s goat industry to meet domestic, regional and international markets.”
Moreover, the Ministry through the policy of tying the private sector to fund 40 percent of its raw material needs has been able to bolster private sector contribution in primary production thereby empowering rural producers to produce that which can be consumed by the industry.
“Let me highlight that the strong agricultural development, rural industrialisation and rural development are anchored on the indisputably correct observation that development originating from the agricultural sector is twice as powerful at uplifting people from poverty as that from any other sector.
“We know that agriculture development will cause rural industrialisation and in turn initiate rural development,” said Dr Masuka.
Furthermore, the Government invested funds under the Presidential blitz tick grease programme, which is targeting over one million households and the Presidential Youth Heifer Scheme – two flagships that are targeting to tackle poor breeds while safe guarding the national herd from tick-borne diseases.
Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Dr John Basera recently said the programmes are focused on the need to grow the livestock sector through improving the genetic make-up of animals for better breeds and building defences against diseases.
The Government also launched the Presidential Horticulture Recovery Plan and the Nutrition Gardens Programme, which comprise a hectare of land and fish pond to provide rural households with continuous cash flows through a functional business model.
The Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA), which is tasked with the role of regulating the marketing of agriculture produce is developing applicable business models and creating market linkages for Government led initiatives meant to develop marketing systems that effectively attend to the concept of market driven production.
“The success rate in terms of market linkages is 100 percent as we have managed to establish a ready market for all the crops being grown in the gardens from the mass market and possibly retail outlets,” said AMA chief executive officer Clever Isaya.
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