Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
THE Minister of Lands and Rural Development, Vangelis Haritatos, has toured a new citrus project in Beitbridge and commended the enterprise for increasing production and driving rural industrialisation in line with President Mnangagwa’s vision.
Minister Haritatos, who was also standing in as acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, visited the Orangeville Trading citrus project on Saturday.
Speaking after the tour, he said he was blown away by the expansion of operations since his last visit in September last year.
“We are in Beitbridge right close to the border visiting a company called Orangeville Trading,” he said.
“To our surprise, they’ve actually increased the enterprise. They’ve increased investment. What we’re looking at is the pure definition of rural development and rural industrialisation.”
The project spans close to 1 500 hectares of citrus and is still expanding.
The enterprise is processing raw citrus into value-added products, including juices and is exploring the use of orange peels for animal feed.
It employs close to 400 people.
Minister Haritatos said the development reflected the shift of factories from urban areas into rural districts, as outlined in the National Development Strategy 1 and Vision 2030.
“What we are seeing is factories now moving away from cities, which is what it used to be, to actually coming into rural areas,” he said.
“This is exactly what we’re looking at: enterprises transforming our country and taking us to what the President wants, which is Vision 2030 and the upliftment of livelihoods.”
He said Beitbridge’s climate and water resources make it ideal for citrus production. The company is also investing in additional dams to increase water storage capacity.
“This district of Beitbridge is showing us that citrus is thriving. Great climate, abundance of water,” said the Minister.
“We want to mimic what we see here to other properties around the area so that we make this a hub and allow other properties to feed into this juice plant. This is the value addition and beneficiation that His Excellency has been talking about.”
