Value addition key to achieving Vision 2030 targets – says Hon Haritatos
Story by Tendai Munengwa
THE Government has reaffirmed that value addition and beneficiation will be central to Zimbabwe’s agricultural growth trajectory as the country works towards attaining an upper-middle-income economy by 2030.
Speaking in Harare on Thursday during an engagement with stakeholders, the Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Honourable Vangelis Haritatos, said value addition is the cornerstone of the country’s long-term development vision and a critical pillar of the National Development Strategy Two (NDS2).
“Cotton used to a cash crop which empowered many rural communities but this time this has gone down – we need to revive the value chain of the white gold – if we we value add, there are a lot of by products which comes with it and millions of dollars to be generated in foreign currency- the same with Tobacoo Zimbabwe Is currently general 11 percent value addition and if we are to increase value addition the country has the capacity to rake in over five billion United States dollars up from one billion by 2028, so that is what the ND2 and the 21 pillars under agriculture portfolio,” he said.”
Honourable Haritatos emphasised that while the climate-proof Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme has become the backbone of national food security, Government is now accelerating efforts to equip small-scale farmers with mechanisation tools to enable precision farming and increase productivity.
“We are deepening partnerships to bring more tractors and combine harvesters, particularly to support our smallholder farmers, enhancing efficiency from land preparation to harvest, said Harritatos.”
He further urged financial institutions to design tailor-made financing models that cater for farmers at all levels of production, noting that inclusive funding structures are essential for strengthening the agricultural value chain.
