adminDevelopment Minister Joseph Made, said farmers needed to establish direct relationships with suppliers.
“If farmers eliminate the middlemen they will definitely slash the costs of procuring equipment and enhance their capacity of buying more pieces, which also boosts their production levels,” he said.
The delegation included representatives of companies such as Red Graniti, Landini Tratorri, Lamberti Chemicals, AgroTech S and D, Marini Quarries Group and Rover Stone Colour and Design.
Minister Made said Zimbabwe was a major consumer of agricultural equipment from Italy.
“Zimbabwe has the right to receive equipment on its own without going through a middleman since we have a large number of farmers with very large tracts of land for crop farming and are in dire need of implements,” said Minister Made.
“Apart from such machinery as tractors, farmers also need other implements like balers, silage cutters and even combine harvesters.”
He said Zimbabwe needed a facility that would allow farmers to place orders for tractor units and other implements without going to South Africa. Zimbabwe’s agriculture, health, mining and water sectors in particular, said Minister Made, provided a lot of markets for Italian products, which made it critical for the country to be able to access the products directly from Italy.
He also observed that one of the country’s biggest man-made water bodies such as Lake Kariba were constructed by the Italians and as such Zimbabwe needed to readily access the Italian technology to boost production in all those sectors.
Minister Made thanked the Italians for coming to exhibit in Zimbabwe saying the move was a confirmation of their confidence in the country’s capacity to produce effectively even under the harsh effects of the illegal sanctions imposed by the West.
“Italy has realised that we have created business opportunities through the expansion in our agricultural sector, for instance, and are coming to invest on a mutually win-win basis that is good for everybody,” Minister Made said.
Manager for the Africa and Middle East Office Export Department under Puccioni Gruppo Findi, Mr Yemane Michele said his company was happy to explore business opportunities in Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector.
“We produce different classes of fertiliser ranging from the granular, water soluble, foliar and bio-stimulants that do well in many different parts of the world.
“Our company is currently doing business in 65 countries around the world and is present in five continents,” said Mr Michele.
He said Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector had a huge potential adding that he was aware of the progress the sector had made in the past few years after undertaking the land reform.
Online Reporter