adminGeorge Maponga
Masvingo Bureau
Zimbabwe’s institutions of higher learning continue to entrench their new-found position as hotspots for solutions to societal challenges, with Masvingo Polytechnic planning to build vegetable, fruit and water processing plants in Zaka.
The development is in line with the Education 5.0 drive being pursued by the Second Republic under President Mnangagwa.
The plant will process guavas, mangoes and other fruits.
It will process 3 000 bottles of fruit juice hourly and 2 tonnes of dried products per batch.
Masvingo Polytechnic wants to take advantage of the widespread presence of fruits such as guavas and mangoes, in Zaka District and set up a processing plant on a two-hectare piece of land that will also house water and vegetable plants, giving impetus to the rural industrialisation agenda.
Masvingo Poly’s proposed projects come after Mutare Teachers’ College built a fruit and water processing plant commissioned by President Mnangagwa recently.
The opening of the Mutare water and fruit processing plant was confirmation of the positive results the nation is accruing from the Heritage-Based Education 5.0, which stipulates the use of locally available natural resources to drive the country’s socio-economic transformation.
Masvingo Poly principal, Engineer Calisto Muzongondi, yesterday said they were allocated 2 hectares of land by Zaka Rural District Council for the projects.
“The infrastructure will consist of a plant for processing dried fruit and vegetables and another plant for fruit juice and water processing,” said Eng Muzongondi.
“At the moment, Masvingo has prepared the necessary documents, that is the project proposal and drawings and they are now ready for submission to the relevant authorities.”
“Work on the plants would start once approvals have been secured, as everything is in place for the construction to start as soon as possible,” said Eng Muzongondi.
Construction is scheduled to take six months to complete.
Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Ezra Chadzamira, has previously declared that the fruit and water processing plant project by Masvingo Polytechnic was testament to the Second Republic’s commitment to making sure the province was not left behind in the ongoing march towards attaining an upper-middle income society by 2030.
Minister Chadzamira said once rolled out, the project would transform Masvingo’s provincial Gross Domestic Product to a US$8 billion economy by 2030.
Masvingo already boasts of a Mapfura/Marula Processing and Value Addition Plant at Rutenga growth point in Mwenezi that has transformed the lives of locals who supply the abundant mapfura wild fruit to the plant earning income.
The plant has also created hundreds of jobs for locals and created an industrial base for the fledgling urban settlement.
The Mapfura/Marula processing plant was commissioned in 2021 by President Mnangagwa.
Online Reporter