Online Reporter
Edgar Vhera
Specialist Writer – Agribusiness
FOLLOWING the unbundling of the former Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Ministry (MLAFWRD) into two new separate Ministries, Government has moved forward to announce their respective duties and mandates.
The separation of the ministries is specified in the Statutory Instrument 110 of 2026 (SI 110) Assignment of Functions (Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development) Notice.
Government divided MLAFWRD into the Ministry of Lands and Rural Development and Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development.
The former ministry is headed by Minister Vangelis Haritatos while the latter is under Dr Anxious Masuka.
The Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development was assigned 39 Acts, three of which are jointly administered with other ministries.
“The Agricultural and Rural Development Authority Act (Chapter 18:01) is jointly administered with the Minister of Lands and Rural Development.
“The Produce Export Act [Chapter 18:17] is jointly administered with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade,” read the SI 110.
The notice also revealed that the Zambezi River Authority Act (Chapter 20:23) was jointly administered with the Minister of Energy and Power Development.
The Agriculture Ministry has been allocated the Acquisition of Farm Equipment and Material Act, Agricultural Corporations (Commercialisation) Act, Agricultural Corporations (Debts Assumption) Act, Agricultural Finance Act, Agricultural Industry (Employees Pension Scheme) Act, Agricultural Marketing Authority Act, Agricultural Research Act and Animal Health Act.
It will also administer the Bees Act, Brands Act, Cold Storage Commission (Debts Assumption Act) Act, Dairy Act, Dairy Marketing Board (Debt Assumption Act) Act, Farmers Licensing and Levy Act, Farmers Stop-order Act, Fencing Act, Fertilisers, Farm Feeds and Remedies Act, Fruit Marketing Act, Grain Marketing Act, Inner Bank Titles Act, Locust Control Act, Pig Industry Act, Plant Breeders Rights Act, Plant Pests and Diseases Act, Quelea Control Act, Registration of Pedigree Farm Livestock Act, Scientific Experiments on Animals Act, Seeds Act, Sericulture Act, Stock Trespass Act, Tobacco Industry and Marketing Act, Tobacco Research Act, Veterinary Surgeons Act, Warehouse Receipt Act, Water Act and Zimbabwe National Water Authority Act.
Statutory Instrument 109 of 2026 (SI 109) Assignment of Functions (Minister of Lands and Rural Development) Notice also assigned 10 Acts to the Minister of Lands and Rural Development.
The Alienated Land (Information) Act, Communal Land Act, Gazetted Land (Consequential Provisions) Act, Land Acquisition Act, Land Commission Act, Land Occupation Conditions Act, Land Survey Act, Land Surveyors Act and Land Tenure (Repeal) Act have been allocated to the Lands Ministry only.
This development comes as Zimbabwe seeks to unlock up to US$15 billion from the Land Tenure Implementation Programme under which farmers are getting title deeds for their land, with the funds set to be injected into the economy.
The Second Republic introduced title deeds to beneficiaries of the land reform programme to put an end to the issue of tenure and security and ensure bankability and transferability of title.
The assignment of duties to the two Ministries will give impetus to the envisaged 53 percent increase in gross value of agriculture production to US$15, 8 billion by 2030 from US$10, 3 billion in the 2024/25 period.
Under the country’s new agriculture roadmap, the Agriculture Food Systems and Rural Transformation Strategy 2: 2026-30 (AFSRTS 2), Zimbabwe seeks to be a food, feed, bio-oils and bio-fuels secure agro-industrial hub by 2030 and move away from the food basket status of the past.
The 53 percent growth will be anchored by growth in food crops, horticulture, fisheries, milk, indigenous chicken and broiler meat production as well as growth in the cattle herd.
