adminWest” in the eyes of its rural district council, it is just like a stadium hosting big teams that have no concern over the state of the terraces and the turf.
The district is renowned for high yields in maize and tobacco churned from the dark and red loam soils that characterise the bulk of the high rainfall area.
The district also happens to be the largest in the province, by both area and population that is estimated to be above 400 000 people, is arguably the wealthiest in the province judging from its plethora of natural resources.
Unfortunately, the district rate of development is still at a snail’s pace as investors are reluctance to take up several lucrative opportunities in the area in a win-win situation.
Ironically, some of these investors, who happen to own big companies elsewhere, are ever present in the area buying and shipping out livestock and grain.
Serve for a few they have refused to set up shops in the area that also boasts several advantages including an abundance of raw materials, good roads and a large reserve of human resources. Hurungwe Rural District Council chief executive officer Mr. Joram Misheck Moyo said the district has failed to attract meaningful development as most investors were shunning the area.
That is despite the fact that a number of business people depend on raw form the area.
Mr Moyo, who cited grain and livestock as main products of the areas, said many established companies were daily coming into the area to purchase grain and cattle cheaply without ever considering to establish themselves in the area as pay back to the community.
“We have renowned companies into chicken rearing, stockfeeds manufacture and beef production. Although they are accessing tonnes and tonnes of grain and thousands of cattle cheaply every day, they have never responded to our calls to establish businesses in the area.
“We think they need to set shops in the area as a way of ploughing back into this community that has served them faithfully over the years.
“When they take the commodities to Harare or Gweru for value addition or straight into the market, people in these areas obviously benefit more, especially from the employment created, yet our communities would be getting nothing,” he said.
Mr Moyo said the businesses getting their lifeline from the area needed also to consider sponsoring community developmental programmes, sport or other social support programmes. He said the council had come up with various ways to attract investors such as cheap land prices and rentals.
Currently, the council is offering free land to companies interested in establishing themselves in the area for a period of between two and five years.
On the lapse of the period they will start paying for the land, depending on the nature of the business undertaken.
“This is aimed at cushioning investors so that they do not commit their capital on buying land during their first few years of commencing business.”
Magunje Growth Point, which is the administrative hub of the district, has several advantages that include abundant water supply, GMB Silos, easy access with Karoi and free serviced stands for the construction of investors’ employees homes, schools, hospital and an abundance of human resources.
The district falls under Natural Region 2 with good rainfall patterns and always does well for best maize and tobacco producers making it the biggest source of cheap grain even during turbulent periods of droughts.
Hurungwe district has seven chiefs and 26 wards. It has mixed settlements; communal, large scale commercial farms, small-scale commercial farms and A1 farms.
Companies and individuals are buying maize at US$2 per bucket (about US$120 per tonne) while cattle are bought at as low as US$150 per beast.
Most individuals buying grain later resell it to the Grain Marketing Board were it fetches a higher price of US$285 per tonne while most companies are buying it for processing into stockfeeds or for brewing and milling purposes elsewhere.
One of the chiefs in the area, Chief Dendera, concurred with Mr Moyo saying it was time companies relocate into the area to increase the pace of development and provide employment for the many youths that are being churned from the local schools.
“It’s sad that every day truckloads of animals and grain are shipped to other towns such as Harare and Chinhoyi for processing leaving with a few dollars.
“The district badly needs the processing industry. This would mean our children do not get employment and that retards the developmental pace for the area. If these companies were to set shops in the area, it would help complement the opportunities that are being availed by the agriculture sector.”
He also added that the growth point unlike others elsewhere, had title surveyed land which should also be a strong source of confidence to potential investors.
Chief Dendera said local authorities in the area were more than willing to work with investors for the development of the country and the district in particular.
Opportunities clamouring for investors in areas include the setting up of agro-processing plants, hides processing, stockfeeds manufacture and dairy farming.
Eco-tourism ventures at Mutambiranwa falls in the Mudzimu area and at Gandavaroyi and Mahwindo Falls along the Sanyati River, were among a host of lucrative opportunities investors were also free to come and take up.
Mr Moyo said among other critical areas that needed attention were, guano mining at Zvimhonja in western Hurungwe, glitterstone and slate mining in the Nyamakate area along the Harare Chirundu Highway (Ward 7) and gold mining in the Kazangarare area (Ward 9).
Cement stone mining in the Sengwe-Mudzimu area (Ward 15) and exploitation of mukwa and mahogany in the Kangurunguru and Chiroti areas are for furniture making.
The chief executive officer said: “Guano mining at Magweto Caves in the Zvimhonja area has the potential to revolutionise agriculture in the district by availing cheap natural fertiliser to farmers, most of whom were operating below capacity due to lack of the commodity.
“Basing on findings by some German researchers a few years back, bat guano at Zvimhonja can fully sustain our agriculture for up to 20 years.
“This means the district would be able to maximise its agricultural potential through the use of this cheaper fertiliser.
“This obviously will improve the agricultural production levels of the area and help underline Hurungwe as the breadbasket of the province.”
He said these available invaluable resources were a blessing to the peasants most of whom were living in abject poverty due to lack of inputs to support serious agriculture.
Hurungwe district lies in the northwestern part of the country and is one of the six districts that make up Mashonaland West Province.
The Angwa River in the east separates it from Guruve district while it shares the same borders with Makonde district in the south. In the south is Kariba district while Zambezi valley is in the north.
Online Reporter