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George Maponga-Masvingo Bureau
Construction of a US$1 million multi-service centre has started at Rutenga Growth Point, Mwenezi.
It will allow smallholder farmers of sesame and paprika in the district to process their produce and value-add.
Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira presided over the ground-breaking ceremony of the Rutenga plant and a youth vocational skills training centre.
President Mnangagwa is expected to commission the multi-service centre on completion. The centre’s construction is part of the ongoing national thrust to harness green agricultural technologies which dovetail with Zimbabwe’s quest to attain upper-middle-income society status by 2030.
Hundreds across Mwenezi and surrounding districts have transformed into successful sesame and paprika farmers with support coming from Sustainable Agriculture Technology (SAT), which is also financing the construction of the multi-service centre with other partners.
Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, Minister Chadzamira said the centre was the first of its kind in Masvingo province and would engender rural industrialisation.
“This first of its kind project will transform the socio-economic face of the Mwenezi district and will benefit rural smallholder farmers who are into sesame and paprika production. This unique project will be commissioned by President Mnangagwa upon completion. What we are witnessing today dovetails with Vision 2030 and will spur rural industrialisation, which is part of the quest to make our country an upper middle income society by 2030,” he said.
Minister Chadzamira noted that through value addition and processing of sesame and paprika, the farmers will further boost their incomes, taking advantage of a lucrative export market for processed sesame and paprika.
Mwenezi, which falls under eco-agricultural region 5, is a predominantly a sesame-growing area with most communal farmers taking up the drought-tolerant crop. Paprika is grown mainly at major irrigation schemes in Mwenezi such as Lapache, with assistance from SAT.
Minister Chadzamira said Mwenezi was on the cusp of rapid socio-economic transformation on the back of Rutenga’s ongoing industrialisation with positive spin-offs for the local community.
Rutenga already boasts the Mapfura value addition and beneficiation plant opened by the National Biotechnology Authority of Zimbabwe and is already manufacturing of wines, body oils and stockfeed using the wild mapfura/marula fruit that is ubiquitous in Mwenezi district and surrounding areas.
Permanent Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Dr Addmore Pazvakavambwa said the multi-service centre was being spearheaded by SAT with support from key Government departments, the Mwenezi Paprika Growers Society and the Mwenezi Sesame Growers Society.
Organisations such as the Italian Agency of Development Cooperation and Support, Bubye Valley Conservancy, Christian Aid Zimbabwe and the Oak Foundation have chipped in with around US$800 000 for building the centre.
The Japanese Embassy in Zimbabwe had injected over US$75 000 in infrastructural support for the game-changing project. The Dutch Embassy in Zimbabwe will provide around US$110 000 for food security certifications and enhanced traceability of sesame and paprika grown by small holder farmers from Mwenezi and beyond.
Dr Pazvakavambwa said the multi-service centre added impetus to Masvingo province’s quest to expand into a US$8 billion economy by 2030 on the back of increased capacity use by industries and investment in key sectors such as mining and agriculture.
There was also scope to expand sesame and paprika production and tap into the lucrative export market thanks to the province’s high dam density with Masvingo already renowned for its huge irrigation potential encapsulated by being home to Tugwi-Mukosi and Mutirikwi dams, which are Zimbabwe’s largest and second largest interior water bodies.
Online Reporter