Online Reporter
Wallace Ruzvidzo, Harare Bureau
ZIMBABWE has made remarkable strides in transforming its agricultural sector, and according to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa could learn a thing or two.
The South African leader arrived in the country yesterday to officially open the 115th Zimbabwe Agricultural Show (ZAS).
Before the official opening, President Mnangagwa and his counterpart were led on an informative tour of exhibition stands by Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister, Dr Anxious Masuka, who answered questions posed by the Presidents at each stand.
Speaking to the media as they concluded the touring of exhibition stands, President Ramaphosa said he had “learned a great deal”.
“Zimbabwe has been able to focus on agriculture in a superlative way, in terms of empowering rural farmers, industrialisation out of agriculture.
“So I leave Zimbabwe having learned a great deal about agriculture, the type of learning that we can copy in South Africa,” he said.
As he shared a laugh with President Mnangagwa, the South African leader said he rued not having attended earlier editions of the ZAS.
“He (President Mnangagwa) has been inviting me for years, and today I can see why he has been inviting me, because what I have seen here is so impressive. And so I am truly honoured to have come here,” he said.
President Ramaphosa singled out the Second Republic’s capacitation of agriculture extension services workers as a masterstroke in Zimbabwe’s agricultural transformation.
President Mnangagwa has repeatedly affirmed that the continuous capacitation of agriculture extension officers is key to boosting the country’s agricultural production and productivity, and the Second Republic remains committed to this endeavour.
“Nearly everything that I have seen, up to now, to have employed and brought in 6,000 agricultural extension officers, is a phenomenal achievement.
“And to have them servicing all the villages is actually a great boost to agriculture and to agricultural production.
“So I am very impressed and very pleased that I have come and maybe I should have come years ago, maybe 130 years ago, since this show has been going on,” he said with a laugh. So I am very, very pleased to have come here.”
The South African President expressed gratitude to his “elder brother” for having invited him to officiate at the ZAS.
Other South African Presidents to have officiated at the ZAS in the past include former Presidents Jacob Zuma and the late Nelson Mandela in 2009 and 1994, respectively.
“I would like to thank my elder brother (President Mnangagwa) for having invited me to come to this agricultural show,” said President Ramaphosa.
Prior, President Mnangagwa had shared a lighter moment with the media as he emphasised that his counterpart was the one taking care of the media duties.
“In Zimbabwe, we respect our visitors, and I think you must have grown up in Zimbabwe because if you had grown up in Zimbabwe, you would have asked my visitor (President Ramaphosa),” he said as both Presidents burst into laughter.
President Ramaphosa’s participation yesterday underlines the ZAS’s growing appeal as an SADC agribusiness forum, with the then Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi having officiated at last year’s edition.
This year’s edition drew participants from South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau and China.
