The Sunday Mail
Basil Nyabadza
The situation at Arda estates countrywide is now most encouraging. We have deployed business formulae that extract value from the land.
Arda has a clear mandate to ensure food security, skills retention and rural development. That mandate has to be executed when we undertake projects on our estates.
We are deploying a business model due to the illegal economic sanctions on Zimbabwe, particularly land-related businesses.
Arda is no exception.
We have resolved that public-private partnerships are the way to go under the circumstances.
We are tasked with producing food, livestock; and private players would, under this arrangement, provide capital and additional skills.
We have a PPP in every region, bringing the number of investors to 18.
There are three estates in Matabeleland, and we are working with a Chinese company to produce cotton seed there.
In addition, Arda and another partnering company have ventured into wheat (1 000 hectares) and soya bean (1 000 ha) production.
In the Midlands, one estate is producing soya bean, with a 500-ha piece of land earmarked for winter wheat.
The hectarage will double over time.
Further, Arda has revamped irrigation systems, and now has state-of-the-art equipment.
We have increased yields by 70 percent, starting this agricultural season; in other words, where we had two tonnes we are assured of six tonnes-plus.
There are two estates in Masvingo under sugarcane, with 100ha accounting for the crop. The target is 250ha by June.
We have also built a top class lodge that is now being marketed globally.
Recently, we dispatched a delegation to the United States to market hunting in Masvingo and now expect hunters to come and enjoy our hospitality.
These investments – excluding Chisumbanje and Middle Sabi – are worth at least US$34 million.
This includes recapitalisation under all PPPs we have already signed. The partnerships are not uniform as they depend on the nature of investment.
Two PPPs are already operating in the Mashonaland region, with the Chinese on board.
And we are doing wheat, seed maize and soya.
In the meantime, talks between Arda and other investors on the uptake of Sanyati and Kadoma estates are underway.
Out of 21, 18 estates are functioning well.
We are in serious talks with private players to resuscitate the remainder. Most equipment at our estates was obsolete, but has since been replaced.
Over the next two years, Arda will become self-reliant, with a clear rural development programme, a centre of excellency in crop production.
We will also be the biggest employer in local agriculture, and 80 percent of our estates will be functional.
In addition, we will venture into dairy farming just outside Bulawayo where we will engage a South African investor who will bring equipment.
We had land and water, but lacked capital.
◆ Mr Basil Nyabadza chairs the board of the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority. He was speaking to The Sunday Mail reporter Tinashe Farawo in Harare.
