Online Reporter
Theseus Shambare in Mashonaland West
THE Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) is scaling up commercial crop production under a revamped Government mandate that requires the authority to produce at least 850 000 metric tonnes of cereals annually, as Zimbabwe moves to strengthen national food security and the Strategic Grain Reserve.
The target follows the authority’s transformation from a land-administration institution into a production-driven agency mandated to lead the country’s food security agenda through large-scale farming, climate-smart agriculture and rural industrialisation.
Government officially mandated ARDA in January 2021 before Cabinet further strengthened its operational mandate in July last year, shifting the authority’s focus to what it terms “leading by farming” to guarantee national self-sufficiency.
Under the new thrust, ARDA is expected to contribute up to 95 percent of the country’s Strategic Grain Reserve requirements through annual production of maize, wheat, sorghum and sunflower while maximising the use of its estimated 88 000 hectares of potential arable land.
Speaking during a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development oversight visit to Victory Farm in Mashonaland West, ARDA operations and commercial production director Mr Shingirai Jenah said the authority was steadily expanding production capacity through mechanisation, irrigation and modern farming technologies.
“We are going to continue to expand on what they saw,” he said.
“We are now using drone technology for fertiliser application, for spraying, for control of quelea birds, and this has improved and increased our efficiencies as we go into sustainable production.”
Mr Jenah said irrigation expansion remained central to ARDA’s strategy of increasing production while insulating agriculture from the effects of climate change.
“We are anticipating that as ARDA, internally by 2030, we would have established an additional 21 000 hectares under irrigation,” he said.
The authority is pursuing the expansion as part of efforts to reduce reliance on rain-fed agriculture and ensure consistent production despite increasingly erratic weather patterns.
Beyond grain production, ARDA is spearheading Government’s rural industrialisation agenda through the establishment of Village Business Units, rehabilitation of community irrigation schemes and investment in value addition and agro-processing.
The authority is also strengthening national feed, fibre, seed and biofuel systems while expanding renewable energy-powered irrigation infrastructure to enhance resilience across agricultural value chains.
During the oversight visit, members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee toured wheat fields at Victory Farm and received briefings on crop production, mechanisation and irrigation development.
Committee chairperson, Felix Maburutse, said observations from the farms visited so far showed encouraging progress in ARDA’s efforts to strengthen national grain reserves.
“This is Vision 2030 accelerator at play. Because we are seeing that ARDA is doing a great job in improving our grain reserves because each and every farmer we have visited, we have seen that they are doing very well,” he said.
“ARDA is supporting them fully from the inputs, technical services, even harvesting and the transportation of their products to GMB. So, I can safely say ARDA is doing very well.”
The Parliamentary Committee is expected to continue its nationwide assessment of ARDA operations before presenting recommendations to Parliament on the implementation of the authority’s expanded mandate and its contribution to Zimbabwe’s food security objectives.
