Online Reporter
Lonster Mutata
Herald Correspondent
ZIMBABWE’s drive towards Vision 2030 is not a political statement, but a national transformation agenda designed to uplift citizens’ livelihoods, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka has said.
Addressing senior ministry officials, parastatal leadership and sector stakeholders recently, Dr Masuka said Vision 2030 must be understood as a collective national undertaking aimed at raising living standards and empowering communities, particularly in rural areas where most of the citizens derive their livelihoods from agriculture.
“Vision 2030 is not a political statement,” he said. “Vision 2030 is a statement that uplifts people to a better standard of living, and that is our collective resolve to achieve.
“While political dividends may arise from performance, the agenda itself is about economic and social transformation. It is the right thing to do for the country.”
Dr Masuka said agriculture remains the central driver of that transformation, noting that the sector directly influences the livelihoods of more than 60 percent of the population, while about 9,2 million Zimbabweans reside in rural areas and are involved in agriculture daily.
He said it is through agriculture, done differently and productively, that rural communities will transition from spectators to active participants in economic development.
“We superintend over a sector that directly affects 62 percent of the population,” Dr Masuka said.
“That means we carry a weighty responsibility to deliver.”
Zimbabwe’s agricultural resilience, he said, had already demonstrated the sector’s capacity to anchor national development, citing the country’s strong recovery from the devastating drought experienced in the 2023/24 summer season.
Despite what he described as “the worst drought in human memory”, the country rebounded through a successful winter production programme supported by reliable electricity supply.
The winter wheat crop produced 328 000 tonnes, enabling the sustenance of bread production and supporting social welfare needs.
“Zimbabwe is perhaps the only country on the African continent producing wheat for social welfare purposes while other countries are battling to import wheat from Canada, Ukraine and Russia,” Dr Masuka said.
“That achievement shows that we are in a good space, and it is something we must celebrate.”
Dr Masuka said the gains are being consolidated through the Agricultural Food Systems and Rural Transformation Strategy, a comprehensive blueprint approved by President Mnangagwa and endorsed by Cabinet.
Launched in Mutare on October 29 last year, the strategy is aligned with the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) and Vision 2030 of an empowered upper-middle-income society.
Dr Masuka revealed that Cabinet commended the strategy as one of the most comprehensive policy frameworks developed by any ministry and recommended it as a model for other sectors.
“The feedback from Cabinet was that this strategy should guide other ministries on how to craft policies that are participatory, inclusive and reflective,” he said.
For the first time, the strategy incorporates the role of parastatals to ensure stronger institutional alignment across the agricultural value chain.
Dr Masuka said this integrated approach will accelerate implementation and ensure that sector institutions contribute directly to national transformation goals.
“This is the first year of implementation, and we must think boldly and execute with speed and determination,” he said.
At the centre of the strategy is the emergence of rural-based industries that will convert agricultural production into wider economic opportunities.
The Government has already established the Cabinet Committee on Rural Development and Industrialisation, chaired by the agriculture ministry, to drive this agenda.
The committee recognises land and minerals as Zimbabwe’s most strategic national assets and seeks to harness them through a heritage-based development model that supports industrialisation and rural economic growth.
“This country will develop by fully utilising its two most important resources; land and minerals,” Dr Masuka said.
“To achieve Vision 2030 and beyond, we must transform these assets into engines of industrialisation and rural development.
”To ensure effective coordination of the agricultural sector, the ministry has established an extensive governance framework that brings together Government institutions, farmers’ unions, financiers and industry players.”
This includes 23 sector working groups that meet regularly, as well as a weekly Crops Working Group comprising over 100 participants that monitors agricultural performance in real time.
In addition, the ministry holds monthly coordination meetings with Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution to strengthen the implementation of programmes at the provincial level.
Dr Masuka said the coordination model had attracted recognition from the Office of the President and Cabinet, which is now exploring replicating the framework across other ministries.
“This shows that what we are doing is being recognised as a model of coordination,” he said.
Going forward, engagements with parastatal boards and senior management will be strengthened, with the ministry proposing quarterly meetings to review strategic, operational and financial performance.
Dr Masuka said institutions under the ministry will be required to align their five-year strategies for the 2026-2030 period with the Agricultural Food Systems and Rural Transformation Strategy, NDS2 and Vision 2030.
“Ultimately, we must continuously ask ourselves whether we are on track to achieve the prosperous and empowered upper-middle-income society that we seek,” he said.
“And we must ensure that agriculture remains the epicentre of that transformation.”
