Online Reporter
Engineer Tapuwa Justice Mashangwa
On the 5th of August 2025 in an article by Lewis Nunn, senior travel editor of Forbes Magazine titled, “The World’s Best Countries To Visit In 2025, According To Travel Experts” Zimbabwe was named number one best travelled destination. Not only is this prestigious appointment a remarkable feat for the tourism industry, it also represents an opportunity for the Zimbabwean agritourism sector.
Agritourism as the name suggests is a combination of agriculture and tourism, which primarily involves bringing local, national, or international visitors to a farm, ranch or agricultural value chain participant or business for entertainment, education, or recreation purposes. The visitors pay for the experience which provides the farmers with additional income while offering visitors a unique experience of farm (peri-urban, rural, small, medium or commercial), ranch or agribusiness life, including activities like farm stays, “pick-your-own” produce, and seasonal events like hayrides and corn mazes.
The common activities visitors usually engage in are; direct-to-consumer sales: farm stands, farmers’ markets, and “u-pick” operations where visitors can buy fresh produce directly from the farm; accommodation by staying on a farm in bed and breakfasts, cabins, or other forms of lodging; recreation activities like horseback riding, hunting, or hiking on the farm. The visitors can also learn about agriculture through tours, farm visits, and workshops; entertainment through seasonal events such as corn mazes, pumpkin patches, hayrides, and festivals and specialised experiences such as beekeeping demonstrations, wine tours, or interacting with farm animals.
The key benefits of agritourism are that; for farmers and agribusiness, it diversifies income, creates new revenue streams and can help sustain the agribusinesses; for communities, it stimulates the local economy by drawing visitors to agribusiness areas and for visitors it offers them a chance to connect with nature, learn about where their food comes from and how it is processed and experience a different pace of life.
The historical origin of agritourism began in Italy as an effort to revitalise rural villages after World War II where is was referred to as “agriturismo”. After this in the 1970s, it became more widespread evolving more formally in Europe and South America and has since expanded globally. The notion behind it was always a means for rural communities to sustain themselves by diversifying farm income and connecting city-dwellers with agriculture. This exchange was a means to foster an understanding of where food comes from and supporting rural economies. In as much as agritourism has grown from this the principal functionality remains the same.
In Zimbabwe, agritourism is a nascent industry driven by the potential for economic diversification and sustainable development in rural areas. It is gaining traction through initiatives like opening farms for public tours, creating educational experiences, and integrating local culture and wildlife. Examples include Nottingham Estate offering citrus farming tours and the Mai Chimuti Agro-Tourism Initiative, which showcases organic farming and empowers rural women.
Characteristics of agritourism in Zimbabwe include; the diversification for farmers, as agritourism provides an alternative income stream for farmers, reducing reliance on seasonal crops and market fluctuations. It acts as a catalyst for rural economic growth through job creation and entrepreneurship encouragement. It combines cultural and educational experience exposure through various activities which often include farm tours, learning about traditional farming methods, participating in cultural events, and experiencing local cuisine. It is also interesting to note that Zimbabwe has 16 tribes and over 70 ethnic groups all of which have a unique history of their agricultural production systems that they can share nationally, regionally and internationally.
Some agritourism businesses integrate wildlife facilities into their functionality. Some initiatives, like the Nottingham Estate, blend agriculture with wildlife by using products that are not suitable for fresh markets to feed animals. There is a tourism product innovation approach which offers an alternative to traditional tourism, catering to both international and domestic tourists seeking authentic, off-the-beaten-path experiences.
Nowadays with the increased use of social media for marketing farmers are using social media to document their progress and build a following, inspiring others in their communities through YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
The main challenges facing the agritourism sector include limited growth potential as there is still significant number of farms that have not yet been developed as agritourism destinations. There is also a need for development of the product and service offerings with some destinations as there is a pronounced lack of diversity in the core and peripheral activities. Policy support is still lacking as a conceptual framework for agritourism development in Zimbabwe could consider factors like infrastructure, funding and legislation to ensure long-term success. More research still needs to be done particularly regarding conceptualisation and development of frameworks tailored to the developing world context, to help guide future growth.
In the words of our National Anthem, “O God, bless the land of Zimbabwe, The land of our heritage, From the Zambezi to the Limpopo”, may agritourism contribute to the growth of our agriculture sector and in turn the growth of our economy.
The writer is Engineer Tapuwa Justice Mashangwa, GCEO Emerald Investments, CEO DataFarm, CEO Emerald Agribusiness and CEO TranslateZW. He can be contacted on +263771641714 and email: [email protected] or [email protected].
