Online Reporter
Lonster Mutata
Herald Correspondent
Government is transforming communal irrigation schemes into commercially viable irrigation business units as part of efforts to uplift rural livelihoods and accelerate the attainment of Vision 2030, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka said recently.
Speaking at an assessment visit to Craigengower Irrigation Scheme in Mazowe, the Minister said the Second Republic is repositioning agriculture from subsistence activity to a fully-fledged business, noting that rural communities are central to achieving an upper-middle-income economy by 2030.
The conversion of communal irrigation schemes into business units under the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) model is a deliberate policy shift aimed at unlocking value, improving access to finance and markets, and guaranteeing sustainable incomes for farmers.
“Vision 2030 will not be achieved if farming remains a livelihood activity. Treating agriculture as a business is the only way rural people can meaningfully contribute to national development and improve their standards of living,” he said.
Traditional communal irrigation models, where farmers operate individually and grow different crops in small quantities, is economically limiting because they do not attract reliable markets and bank financing.
Markets want consistency and volumes while banks want structured entities, “but fragmented production disadvantages farmers on both fronts”.
Under the ARDA model, irrigation schemes are reorganised to operate as single commercial entities, with farmers becoming shareholders in a registered company managed under professional oversight from ARDA.
The model promotes coordinated production, where farmers grow one crop at a time in line with market demand, using the volumes to gain access to better-paying markets facilitated by the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA).
Dr Masuka said the structured approach also unlocks access to financing from institutions such as the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC), including loans and mechanisation support such as tractors and other equipment.
“Through this model, farmers earn monthly salaries for their work and also receive dividends after crop sales, ensuring predictable incomes and shared prosperity,” he said.
The organised irrigation business units model is central to the Second Republic’s development philosophy of leaving no one and no place behind, stressing that Vision 2030 is anchored on rural industrialisation rather than rural-to-urban migration.
“Vision 2030 is not about people leaving rural areas for cities; it is about industrialising rural areas so that people generate wealth where they live.”
Irrigation business units are strategic drivers of rural industrial hubs, with agriculture remaining the backbone of the nation’s economy.
“Vision 2030 is in the soil. Zimbabwe is an agro-based economy. We use our hands and our heads to create wealth; that is why His Excellency the President always says, ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/ Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo’,” said Dr Masuka.
Craigengower Irrigation Scheme is among several communal schemes earmarked for transformation under the ARDA-led irrigation business units programme, which the Government views as a cornerstone of rural development, food security and inclusive economic growth.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Dr Masuka toured Yomba A1 farmers in Zvimba District, Mashonaland West Province, to assess progress on the Government’s flagship Productivity Booster Kits irrigation programme, aimed at accelerating agricultural productivity for smallholder farmers.
The Productivity Booster Kits, launched by President Mnangagwa last year, are Government-backed packages that combine irrigation and farming equipment, designed to help farmers mitigate climate variability, expand irrigated land, and increase yields.
The initiative follows a successful rollout in Mashonaland Central and is now being scaled nationwide.
Addressing farmers at Yomba, Dr Masuka said 228 hectares of irrigation infrastructure had been completed, with 76 plot holders set to benefit directly.
“His Excellency President Dr. Emmerson Mnangagwa, in his wisdom, noted a gap in the national irrigation development thrust, particularly for A1 farmers. That is why the Productivity Booster Kits programme was launched. This first phase at Yomba is part of over 1 000 hectares planned, with farmers forming a company, ARDA providing management, and Government assisting with capacitation,” he said.
Each farmer will receive a 105-horsepower tractor to start the process.
