Online Reporter
Victor Maphosa
Mashonaland East Bureau
THE establishment of the Gosha Business Unit in Gosha Village, Murewa District, has brought major relief to local people, who are now earning a living through dividends from practising all year round agricultural activities.
Government, through the Agricultural Rural Development Agency (ARDA) under the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, is establishing VBUs in every village across Zimbabwe, with the objective of enhancing food security.
The rollout of these VBUs has emerged as a game changer, particularly in the semi-arid regions, which are prone to recurrent droughts, hard hit by the effects of climate change and rely primarily on rain-fed agriculture.
The government came up with the VBU initiative, among other programmes, to improve food and nutrition security while creating continuous income avenues for the rural communities.
Now, the Government, led by President Mnangagwa, is in the process of intensifying and modernising this initiative whereby VBUs will be capacitated with tools of trade, which include, among others, tractors, to boost production.
This will be done under a VBU Mechanisation Programme, which is expected to be launched next month in Mashonaland East province.
Recently, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka toured the Gosha Village Business Unit, where he expressed satisfaction with the level of production at the Unit.
Dr Masuka was accompanied by officials from his Ministry, who included directors and senior officers.
The visit was also to pave the way for the mechanisation launch.
“We are visiting the Gosha Village Business Unit to see the progress that they are making in commercialising this VBU. Since its establishment in 2024, they have now done about four rounds of dividends. So they are making progress.
“There is potential for development, and this is what we want. This is actually demonstrative of the insight of President Mnangagwa in terms of leaving no one and no place behind for the transformation of the economy towards Vision 2030. So I am pleased with what they have done; they can certainly do more. This centre certainly should be replicated across the villages in the province and country-wide.
Dr Masuka also commended the beneficiaries for establishing a cattle handling facility, which he said will ensure that they will be able to manage disease pressure.
For the Government, the establishment of VBUs should be done in every village, but due to some of the unforeseen challenges, the pace at which the VBUs are being established is low, and the related Ministry is now considering other options to ensure the process is expedited.
“We are relying on the fiscus to give us resources to establish these VBUs, which is why so far we have just established around 1 462 VBUs of which about 1 200 are operational, and only about 21 percent of these have been formed into companies. This is because the resources we are receiving are insufficient to move at the pace which will enable us to establish the 35 000 VBUs across 35 000 villages.
“So, now that we have done the proof of concept, and this VBU here is a commercially viable model, we want now to be able to articulate a business case to various financiers, and we are beginning to see a few of them endear to this programme.
“We also have emboldened development partners who have aligned to this concept, and additionally, there are about 2 000 or so nutrition gardens previously established by development partners in villages throughout the country that will be converted to this VBU model.
“We must also be mindful that there are 53 000 water points in the country and about 41 800 boreholes that were drilled from independence to now, separate from the Presidential Rural Development Programme that has done about 4 800 boreholes.
“We are going back to these 41 800 boreholes to see which ones are sufficiently prolific to enable us to convert them into VBUs, which will lower the costs and accelerate the pace at which we are establishing these. So I am optimistic, with additional resources from the fiscus, development partners’ support, perhaps looking at philanthropy but also investments, that we will meet our targets,” he said.
Coming back to the mechanisation model, Dr Masuka said the ministry will launch the model next month where about 100 VBUs are expected to benefit in the first phase.
“We will be linking successful VBUs to a trial mechanisation model, and perhaps, we will launch here in Mashonaland East Province, where successful VBUs can then be linked to a bank because they are now a business case, so they can borrow money to purchase equipment like a tractor, which will enable mechanisation. This means we can begin to mechanise VBUs and ensure that agriculture becomes a business at every village throughout the country.
“We aim to launch this sometime next month, and we hope to invite President Mnangagwa to lead the launch. We also expect no less than 100 VBUs to benefit from the first structure.”
Government’s Agricultural Rural Development Agency (ARDA) plays a pivotal role in the management and operationalisation of established business units, acting as the implementor of the programme, ultimately driving food security, rural development and industrialisation.
ARDA’s Operations Director for Rural Development and Industrialisation, Mr Washington Katiyo, said they will continue to work tirelessly to ensure VBUs operate commercially and drive rural industrialisation.
“We are in the process of establishing 35000 VBUs in the country, and our role as ARDA is to ensure that these VBUs operate as a business and are successful. To date, we have established and operationalised 1262 VBUs, and there is a change in terms of the livelihoods of the people.
“People are getting some income per month as beneficiaries of VBUs. The government is now rolling out the mechanisation programme to ease farming and ensure an increase in output. We thank President Mnangagwa for the programme which will definitely ensure the VBUs are a success,” he said.
For the people of Gosha, the VBUs are not merely a piece of land and the availability of water, but a source of income and a fountain of farming skills.
“I used to take the power of farming for granted and never put much effort into it. That belief changed as soon as I started doing farming in this VBU. The model has inspired me to work hard on my piece of land at home and consider agriculture as a business.
“We are getting an income here every month. Our last dividend was around US$7000. Besides getting cash, I also gained farming skills and some inspiration and now, I have drilled two boreholes at my homestead and I am not turning back in terms of making money through farming.
“I am truly empowered. After working in this VBU, I then go home and work again on my land. Honestly, I thank the Government and President Mnangagwa for this programme. I also want to call on other people in various villages to take this programme seriously,” Gosha VBU beneficiary Mrs Violet Maenga said.
Mr Watson Chikidhi said, “ Gone are the days of spending precious time engaging in beer binges.
“We are now making use of all the time that we have. I used to wake up, and the next thing was to search for where I could find home-brewed beer. All that is in the past. Now I spend my time at the VBU, farming as well as learning new skills for myself.
“The most interesting part is that I earn some money at the end of the month. It gives me pleasure knowing that I am spending the money that I have worked for. This is empowerment, and I am grateful. My family will never lack food again. We will never starve,” he said.
The VBU programme aligns seamlessly with the Second Republic’s Rural Development 8.0 initiative, which encompasses numerous projects aimed at enhancing agricultural productivity, supporting rural industrialisation, and fostering thriving local economies.
This broader vision seeks to transform every village in Zimbabwe into a centre of production, value addition and trade, further strengthening rural resilience.
