Vusumuzi Dube
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
Government has launched three digital knowledge resources to equip workers with new trends and technologies in the agricultural sector and maximise production.
Through the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement, Government set up the ZimAgriHub which is a farmer-focused national online library, the ZimAgriExtension In-Service Training Application and the Lead Farmer Online Training Programme. Speaking during the launch, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement Permanent Secretary Dr John Basera said:
“The Government of Zimbabwe is prioritizing leaving no one behind and the agriculture sector is one of the key precursors to the transformation of the economy. If we get agriculture right we are on the right track to get everything right. The development thrust focusses on empowering farmers as well as agricultural extension officers.”
He said the launch was a historic moment that was making solid strides towards Vision 2030 and agriculture was to now employ a robust innovation service that empower extensionists, farmers, researchers, students and other stakeholders.
Dr Basera said the uptake and use of ICTs had greatly increased in recent years resulting in considerable reduction in the digital divide between inter urban, rural and urban areas.
He said to achieve technical capacitation of extension staff through the use of ICTs the Ministry had procured about 5 000 tablets and of these 4 425 have been distributed to provinces.
Dr Basera said: “The Ministry is seized with this transformation journey and l am happy to report that thanks to His Excellency the President our extension staff were capacitated with 3 170 motorcycles. The Ministry is targeting to have all 6 000 extension officers benefit from this motorcycle capacitation initiative.”
He said that growth across sectors was realized from prudent utilization of ICT tools tapping into the internet of things and exploring possibilities of improving effectiveness.
Dr Basera said various ICT applications and solutions could improve industrial processes and quality of products, increase agricultural yields, enhance teaching and learning whilst positively transforming lives including those of farmers.
Speaking on the ZimAgriHub, he said: “It is a virtual agricultural centre of excellence that to complement physical centres of excellence in the country which are located at Chibero Agricultural College, Matopos Research Stations and four district centres of excellence.”
Zimbabwe Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Services (Zakis) head of project, Mr Waddilove Sansole said the ZimAgriHub presented an opportunity as the virtual agricultural centre of excellence to make all knowledge available in a one stop shop.
“We are finalizing the set-up of special printer that can digitalize hard copy archives, we are also going to facilitate training of CLU members to enable them use the printer to scan and curate hard copy archives, to strengthen the digital library,” said Mr Sansole.
He said as many countries in the region were grappling with strengthening of Extension Services, Zimbabwe had just unlocked the power of digital 4Agriculture, through the training App.
ZAKIS is part of a larger EU-funded Zimbabwe Agricultural Growth Programme (ZAGP) that was launched in Zimbabwe in June 2019.The 40 million euro initiative seeks to boost the beef, dairy, pig, goat and poultry production.
Bongani Ndlovu