dyton mupawaenda
Columbus Mabika-Herald Reporter
Zimbabwe is now food secure as a result of the versatile agriculture polices being implemented by the Second Republic, Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda said last week while attending the 54th Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum hosted by the Parliament of Mauritius.
The session was running under the theme “Role and Recovery Planning in the SADC Region”.
“Zimbabwe is now food secure courtesy of the visionary leadership of His Excellency, Cde Dr E D Mnangagwa, wherein the country recorded a surplus maize harvest of 3,5 million tonnes and 475 993 tonnes of wheat harvested in 2023,” he said.
“This historic feat is attributed to the country embracing the climate proofed agriculture commonly known as ‘Pfumvudza/Intwasa’ programme which supports over 1,6 million households.”
Adv Mudenda told the SADC PF Plenary that in 2010, Zimbabwe established the Debt Management Office which is under the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion for the purpose of effective debt management in order to comply with SADC debt-to-GDP ratio of no greater than 60 percent for all member states.
The Public Debt Management Act was the legal framework of the debt management policy.
Debt management in Zimbabwe was supported by Parliament, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and the Auditor-General’s Office to bolster the effectiveness of public debt management strategies by thoroughly scrutinising the national budget expenditure regime for maximum efficacy.
Furthermore, to bolster the implementation of the provisions of the Public Debt Office, Parliament was amending the Public Finance Management Act to incorporate the provisions of the Model Law on Public Financial Management thereby strengthening the effectiveness of the Debt Management Office.
Zimbabwe had adopted a policy on value addition and beneficiation of its mineral and agricultural resources thereby resulting in downstream mining and agro industries.
The 2024 pre-budget seminar hosted by Parliament of Zimbabwe said Government needed to accelerate the implementation of the value addition and beneficiation policies in the mining and agricultural sectors.
He affirmed that Parliament had a new thematic committee on climate change to specifically conduct oversight on Government policies, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and mitigation policies and programmes.
Parliament, Adv Mudenda said, would soon consider the Climate Change Bill to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and facilitate low carbon development technologies, including strengthening appropriate institutions and funding mechanisms by working together with the Select Committee on Climate Change.
The two committees were advocating the enactment of the Climate Change Bill into law as supported by the Environmental Management Agency and the Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association.
On ICT, Adv Mudenda said plans were ongoing to provide members of Parliament with the requisite gadgets so that they were ICT compliant.
In this regard, he said all MPs will receive induction on how to effectively harness the ICT apparatus available to them in the dispensation of their parliamentary responsibilities.
Online Reporter