Sundaymail Editor
Felistas Tavarera
Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuku says the US$10 million Youth Empowerment Fund launched by President Mnangagwa last month to support young farmers will further boost production in the agricultural sector.
He was speaking at a meeting to discuss initiatives to boost the country’s agricultural sector, focusing on youth empowerment and food security.
“The Youth Empowerment Fund will provide financial support to young farmers, enabling them to access loans from the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) and participate in the country’s agricultural development,” he said.
“The Government has also allocated US$29 million to the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) for irrigation development, aiming to enhance food security and promote agricultural growth. We need to accelerate irrigation development on other estates because ARDA has been designated the food security agent for the nation.
“The Government has also introduced a new inputs distribution platform through AFC, which will provide financial inclusion for 3,5 million beneficiaries and promote transparency and accountability in the drawdown of agricultural inputs.
“These are the most important issues that we are discussing, the opportunities brought about by the transformation that the President has put in place in terms of land, in terms of title deeds, in terms of the new inputs distribution program to power the transformation in agriculture and accelerate the attainment of Vision 2030.”
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