admin
Mukudzei Chingwere in ROME, Italy
THE Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has endorsed Zimbabwe’s agricultural programmes and predicted that the country is not just on course to be self-sufficient in all food, but also back to being an exporter that other countries can rely on.
FAO Director-General Dr Qu Dongyu gave the endorsement when he met the Zimbabwe delegation attending the Global Mental Health Summit here.
The delegation, which is here primarily for health business took advantage of its presence in the city that hosts FAO headquarters to meet Dr Qu, itself a gesture that is in line with President Mnangagwa’s economic diplomacy strategy.
Zimbabwe launched the Food Systems Transformation Strategy in 2020, a plan with which Government targets to grow the sector to a US$8,2 billion a year and a driver of economic and social transformation, achieving national food self-sufficiency, ensuring growing incomes for the farmers, who form the majority of the population, and growing agriculture exports.
Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Dr John Mangwiro, who is leading the Zimbabwe delegation, briefed the FAO Director-General on what Zimbabwe is doing to modernise its agriculture sector and the journey it has travelled since the advent of the New Dispensation.
Dr Qu said he is aware of Zimbabwe’s agriculture roadmap.
“Zimbabwe has big potential and also you have an enabling policy for land, for infrastructure investment and also investment in science, research and development,” said Dr Qu while addressing the Zimbabwe delegation in a meeting.
“From my knowledge and understanding, Zimbabwe has good weather and good soils to develop modern, efficient, inclusive, sustainable, resilient food systems. You will be a food basket not only for yourself but the region,” he said.
Dr Qu said the Zimbabwean delegation should take advantage of this meeting in Rome to foster even more collaboration with his organisation, part of the United Nations and set up to eradicate hunger and assist in boosting farm output.
He said FAO has always been a willing partner to the development of Zimbabwe’s agriculture and it is ready to play a part in ensuring the flow of further investment into the sector.
However, for this to be achieved, Zimbabwe has to come forward with proposals.
“There has been close partnership between FAO and Zimbabwe over the years. If you have any issues on investment plans, (our collaborations) are a platform for more engagement,” said Dr Qu.
“Please make use of this opportunity, bring a comprehensive investment plan, so we start a world food programme. We needed to support transformation of food systems and rural development, where you have huge potential.”
Dr Qu also noted that Zimbabwe should forge ahead with its strategy to grow a wide-ranging number of crops on small pieces of land as a way of maximising land use, producing more with less and more quality and more diversity.
This way, he said, Zimbabwe stands a better chance to penetrate First World markets with its produce as more and more high-income countries move towards food diversity.
He talked up the need to capacitate rural farmers, a leg on which Zimbabwe has taken off through the Presidential Rural Development Programme.
Dr Mangwiro was pleased with the remarks by Dr Qu and said the international endorsement will go a long way in giving Government the encouragement it needs to pursue its programmes.
“We came to meet the FAO Director-General, we put across our programmes as Zimbabwe, what we are doing, and also hearing their opinion,” said Dr Mangwiro.
“They emphasised on us continuing with green cities, green approaches up to the rural areas. They encouraged us to continue the way we are going and this is very important for us,” he said.
Online Reporter
dyton mupawaenda