Nuanetsi Ranch investors hailed for citrus and cane ventures

George Maponga in MWENEZI

Investors developing cane and citrus plantations at Nuanetsi Ranch in Mwenezi have been hailed by the Government for contributing to the country’s Vision 2030 of creating an upper-middle-income economy.

The seven companies – Lamcent Agriculture, Byword Enterprises, Lyonais Investments, Green Corridors, Mossfield Farms, Zimbrands and Honzero Agro Projects, are each developing between 2 500 to 5 000 hectares of virgin land into cane and citrus fields at Nuanetsi.

The investors signed a joint venture with the Development Trust of Zimbabwe for the massive irrigation project that will rely on water from Tugwi-Mukosi Dam.

DTZ and the investors signed agreements with a life of 25 years.

The national coordinator of Flagship Programmes and Projects in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Deputy Chief Secretary Engineer Amos Marawa, toured some of the blocks at Nuanetsi where the investors are setting up irrigation infrastructure.

Eng Marawa was told by the investors that the initial planting of sugar cane on cleared land was set to start on July 7.

The investors said the development of plantations will be done in phases over eight years, by which time 25 000 hectares are expected to be under cane and citrus.

Eng Marawa said the Second Republic under President Mnangagwa wanted projects like the ones at Nuanetsi, as they helped leapfrog aggregate national economic development in line with Vision 2030.

Eng Marawa was accompanied by senior Government officials and traditional leaders from Mwenezi and Chiredzi.