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Agriculture Reporter
THE Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Government has urged farmers to be wary of fraudsters posing as officials from the Ministry facilitating farmers’ applications for assistance and fleecing them of their money.
In a statement the Ministry’s permanent secretary Dr John Basera said they were aware of the fake advertisement circulating on various social media platforms purporting to belong to the Ministry calling for money for applications from prospective beneficiaries through a link.
The fraudster is using a parody account on Facebook, which is fake and does not belong to the Ministry.
“Our Facebook page is Lands Agriculture Zimbabwe and members of the public are warned to be cautious of losing their money, as the Ministry and the Smallholder Agriculture Cluster Project (SACP) will not be held liable for any losses and inconveniences incurred by members of the public,” said Dr Basera.
The Ministry Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development has partnered with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), OPEC Fund for Development, private sector and prospective beneficiaries to implement the SACP, which will run until 2027.
“SACP has not reached a stage where it calls for expressions of interest for expressions from targeted beneficiaries who include agriculture producer groups, small business enterprises and value chain lead enterprises,” said Dr Basera.
The programme is currently carrying out sensitisation of communities in targeted areas in Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central, Midlands and Matabeleland North.
Dr Basera stressed that the sensitisations were being carried out in conjunction with local development structures coordinated through the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works at provincial and district level.
The Smallholder Irrigation Revitalisation Programme (SIRP), which aims to build resilience among smallholder farming communities in Zimbabwe is a seven year programme funded by IFAD, OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and the Government.
In addition, the programme is supporting the development of agricultural and rural development in the country through irrigation revitalisation and projects meant to build resilience of smallholder farmers.
“The objective is to decrease vulnerability of smallholder farmers to food and nutrition insecurity, climate change effects and economic shocks to sustain their own farming operations, therefore the coming in of fraudsters threatens the efforts of Government and development partners,” observed Dr Basera.
Online Reporter