Story by Stanley James, Business Editor
ZIMBABWE’S agriculture sector continues to register notable growth, according to findings presented during the Fourth Post-Cabinet briefing held in Harare this Tuesday.
Presenting the outcomes in the 4th Post-Cabinet briefing in Harare on Tuesday, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Dr Zhemu Soda said the first round of the Crop, Livestock and Fisheries Assessment Report reflects milestones achieved under ongoing food security policies.
“The survey was conducted by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency and adopted a whole-of-government approach. The area cultivated under staple cereals, including maize and traditional grains, expanded from the targeted 2 427 000 hectares to 2 488 449 hectares during the 2025/26 agricultural season.
“Horticulture crops such as mango increased by 17 percent, avocado by 11 percent, blueberries by 11 percent, orange by 10 percent and pecan nuts by 10 percent. Regarding livestock, the national beef cattle herd grew marginally by zero comma three percent, from 5 741 397 in 2024 to 5 760 678 in 2025, while the dairy herd increased by 7,5 percent from 65 659 to 70 584 in 2025. The growth contributed to a 6,2 percent rise in commercial raw milk,” Dr Soda said.
Meanwhile, Cabinet approved new guidelines governing Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) as Government moves to strengthen infrastructure development frameworks.
“The Government of Zimbabwe continues to fine-tune the existing PPP framework aimed at leveraging capital and expertise for all infrastructure projects. In that regard Government has developed new guidelines to be followed by parties during the entire PPP life cycle, encompassing project identification, development appraisal, approval, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and termination of the PPPs,” he added.
On the mining front, Government reaffirmed that it will maintain the ban on raw mineral exports as part of efforts to enhance value addition, particularly in strategic minerals such as lithium.
Other key takeaways from the Cabinet meeting include progress on a national biodiversity action plan and continued enforcement of the ban on alluvial mining.
