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Elita Chikwati
Agriculture Reporter
The appointment of Mr Tinotenda Mhiko as the substantive chief executive of the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) that was announced yesterday is part of the reform process expected to transform rural livelihoods in line with Vision 2030.
It is expected that from now on, the authority will push hard to improve rural people’s household income and standards of living through agriculture.
The authority is also working on establishing transformative linkages for sustainable funding, marketing of commodities produced on its estates and boost production at rural irrigation schemes.
The appointment of Mr Mhiko is with effect from March 4, coming after he had been the acting chief executive of ARDA since the retirement of Mr William Mbona in December last year.
Announcing the appointment, which was approved by President Mnangagwa, ARDA board chairman Mr Ivan Craig said it came at a time when the authority was transforming itself in line with the National Development Strategy 1.
He said ARDA was reposition itself as a key player towards the achievement of Vision 2030, as enunciated by President Mnangagwa.
“Your mandate is to transform ARDA to achieve food, feed and fibre security,” said Mr Graig.
“In short, we must turnaround ARDA from its perceived desolate estates into vibrant agro production zones.
“The central focus is on repositioning ARDA as a major player in farming. Together with the board of directors I lead and the Government as the shareholder, we will render our full support to you, chief executive and your management, to ensure there is production at ARDA estates.”
Mr Craig said special attention would be directed to the fully utilisation of the 88 000 hectares of land and ensuring ARDA adopts better farming practices with a view to increasing production and productivity.
He said there was need for the parastatal to establish new agricultural rural development projects.
Speaking after the announcement, Mr Mhiko said he was ready to hit the ground running and work towards the attainment of ARDA’s mandate as announced by Agriculture, Lands, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement.
“We have already started working on fulfilling our mandate and transformation of ARDA by fully utilising the whole 88 000 hectares instead of the merely 13 000 hectares,” he said.
“The vision is to lead by farming instead of administering agriculture. We want to spearhead rural development projects. We are now working with irrigation schemes together with other key financial stakeholders to ensure they are viable.”
Mr Mhiko said it was important that ARDA played its role and assist in the development of the country.
He said ARDA will encourage smart agriculture and harness new technologies in farming to improve food security status for rural farmers.
Mr Mhiko is a holder of Bachelor of Technology (Honours) Degree in Post-Harvest Technology from the Chinhoyi University of Technology.
He also holds a Master of Science Degree in Agronomy Specialising in the Management of Technologies of Production, Processing and Regulation of Agricultural Products from the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. Mr Mhiko is currently studying for a Doctor of Agricultural Technology Degree (PhD) and his research entails prediction of crop growth, development and adaptation to abiotic and biotic environmental stresses using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms.
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