dyton mupawaenda
Zvamaida Murwira and Precious Manomano
Village business units will now be run commercially to attract working capital and meet recurrent costs such as repairs and maintenance of the boreholes at the centre of each unit.
This latest development comes under an amended Government policy that encourages setting of units at each village borehole to sustain both the units and boreholes.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister, Dr Anxious Masuka said local youths would be trained and equipped in after sales service so that they help in repair work at the business units.
Cabinet directed that 10 000 business units be established by November this year as part of the Presidential borehole drilling programme to economically empower the less privileged in society, with women and youth among the beneficiaries.
Fielding questions on Tuesday from journalists during a post Cabinet briefing chaired by Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere, Dr Masuku was asked about back up plans to ensure sustainable use and maintenance of village business units particularly the boreholes at the core of each unit.
“If we look back at the number and multiplicity of boreholes that have been drilled throughout the rural provinces, you will see that other than those that were drilled by Rural Infrastructure Development Agency a lot of those drilled by development partner agencies did not have back up to ensure sustainability after exit of those development partners. Taking into account of all that, we are reviewing and reconfiguring the new village business unit concept,” said Dr Masuka.
“The first thing is that it is a business. For it to be a business, it must have elements of viability, profitability which then brings aspect of sustainability. Once configured as such, it means that business is able to attract capital for repairs and maintenance, just like any other business. It must be able to attract working capital support. That business, once given this seed capital in terms of the boreholes, solar powered unit, drip irrigation, fencing and the tanks, they are able to expand. It is that reconfiguration as a business will ensure there will be sustainability.”
His ministry would push to ensure that local youths were equipped to be able to make repairs in furtherance of the sustainability of the village business units.
“In terms of repair brigades, we are looking at resuscitating aspects of Rida to ensure if there can be a business case for local youths if they can be trained and capacitated in after sales service provision and we are working flat out to ensure that it happens. That is what we are going to do in the future,” he said.
The Government has so far established 157 village business units, 42 school business units, 21 chief business units and nine youth business units around the country under the ongoing Presidential Rural Development Programme to improve the livelihoods of rural communities.
This year because of the drought, the focus is to establish a village business unit in each of the water and pasture-scarce wards, potentially 1 000 of the 1 620 rural wards.
Village business units are registered as formal companies with the local people being both employees earning wages and shareholders earning dividends from the ventures.
The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development is implementing the programme through the Zimbabwe National Water Authority, Agricultural Marketing Authority, Agriculture and Rural Development Authority and the Agriculture Finance Corporation.
Statistics from the Ministry indicate that under the programme about 20 740 boreholes were drilled by partners which now need to be brought into the modern business unit programme to ensure that they remain viable.
Online Reporter