Online Reporter
Elita Chikwati
Agriculture News Editor
THE Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development is crafting a 2026 budget proposal that aggressively supports the development and rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure to safeguard national food and nutrition security.
This emerged during a workshop for the preparation of the Ministry’s 2026 Budget.
The workshop was attended by heads of parastatals, state-owned enterprises and heads of departments, among others.
Addressing delegates at the meeting, Permanent Secretary Professor Obert Jiri said the Ministry was committed to producing a budget that was fiscally disciplined and responsive to the needs of farmers, fishers, rural communities and the nation at large.
“Our number one priority must be irrigation development. We can no longer rely on rain-fed agriculture. Our budget must aggressively fund the development and rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure, the promotion of cost-effective technologies like drip irrigation and overhead sprinklers. The budget must also fund associated water conveyancing infrastructure and sustainable power supply, skewed towards renewable energy as directed.
“This is not just an agricultural issue; it is a national food security issue,” Prof. Jiri said.
The Ministry is also exploring strategies to mitigate the impact of climate change and will categorise every programme and project by “tagging” them to indicate whether they contribute to climate change mitigation (reducing carbon footprint) or adaptation (enhancing community resilience). This is critical for accessing global climate finance,” he said.
The 2026 budget is framed within a Medium-Term Macro-Economic Framework that projects a real GDP growth of 5 percent.
According to Treasury, this growth is expected to be driven significantly by agriculture, alongside mining, ICT, and electricity.
“This places a tremendous responsibility on our shoulders. Our budget must be a catalyst for this growth,” he said.
Areas of importance also include public investment in foundational infrastructure.
