Moffat Mungazi
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
LANDS, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development Deputy Minister, Honourable Vangelis Haritatos, has implored the people of Manicaland to capitalise on the province’s vast agricultural opportunities instead of relying on foreign investment.
Speaking at a recent Breakfast Investment Conference in the city, Honourable Haritatos, highlighted the province’s unparalleled investment potential in agriculture and agro-processing.
“Manicaland boasts fertile soils, diverse agro-ecological regions, and abundant water bodies, making it an agricultural hub with the potential to make the country not only the breadbasket of Africa, but also a global leader in food production.
“Manicaland is endowed with fertile soils, abundant water resources, and diverse ecological regions. By harnessing these resources through investment and technology, the country can reclaim its status as the breadbasket of Africa and even feed the world,” he said.
Honourable Haritatos encouraged Manicaland to proactively promote its investment potential.
“We must pool our resources and chase down investors, rather than waiting for them to come to us,” he said, stressing the importance of domestic investment in building a strong economy, while also welcoming foreign direct investment as a complementary driver.
“Foreign direct investment is crucial, but domestic investment is even more vital,” he noted.
Zimbabwe’s agricultural potential, he said, remained largely untapped despite remarkable progress in crops such as tobacco and blueberries.
“Just three or four years ago, we produced 7 000 metric tonnes of blueberries. This year, we expect 12 000 metric tonnes. We have also just surpassed 350 million kilogrammes of tobacco, making us one of the biggest producers in the world. For a small landlocked country, that is incredible,” he said, also urging investors to look beyond primary production and focus on value addition.
“Value addition is the missing piece of the puzzle. We cannot continue to export raw materials. For example, we only consume one percent of the tobacco we produce. Cigarettes are sold at about US$40 per kilogramme, yet the raw tobacco starts at US$4 per kg. Where in the world can you get such margins? That’s where the opportunities lie,” he said.
Honourable Haritatos said the country has capacity to develop industries in tomato paste, juice processing, tea, meat, potatoes, onion drying, seed oil, animal feed, ethanol, biodiesel, and textiles.
He also singled out irrigation development as a game changer for agricultural transformation.
“We have an irrigation potential of two million hectares, yet we are only using 221 000 hectares. That is just 10 percent. Investors in irrigation have the chance to make a huge impact. Under the Irrigation Alliance, we are trying to raise US$750 million to cover the deficit,” he said, adding that mechanisation is another critical area that needs urgent investment.
“We only have 15 613 functional tractors, but require 40 000. We only have 350 combine harvesters, but require 600. For those in the mechanisation business, this is your time to shine. You cannot grow your business anywhere else in the world like you can in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Honourable Haritatos highlighted Government’s Rural Development 8.0 programme, which aims to drill 35 000 boreholes, transforming villages into business hubs through Village Business Units (VBUs).
“With one hectare allocated per VBU, this initiative translates to 35 000 hectares of horticulture – a vast area surpassing the size of many countries.
If aggregated and linked to pack houses, these VBUs could generate billions of dollars for the economy,” he said, while emphasising the importance of a collaborative effort between the Government and investors.
Online Reporter