The Sunday Mail
The Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio Economic Transformation (ZimAsset) and the Special Maize Import Substitute Programme, commonly known as Command Agriculture, are two complementary initiatives and any suggestion that the two policies are contradictory is misplaced, a Cabinet Minister has said.
In an interview yesterday, Minister for Policy Coordination and Promotion of Socio-Economic Ventures Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo said the two policies are inseparable in the country’s economic revival.
Ambassador Moyo’s remarks came in the wake of media reports that Vice Presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko had clashed in Cabinet over the two policies.
He said: “The independent media has been awash with misleading information that ZimAsset and Command Agriculture are contradictory.
“The truth of the matter is that ZimAsset is an economic blueprint crafted by the revolutionary party of Zanu PF and adopted as Government policy after the 2013 harmonised elections. Government is a product of the party and it constantly upgrades its programmes to ensure effective implementation.”
Ambassador Khaya-Moyo said Command Agriculture falls under the ambit of implementing ZimAsset. “ZimAsset is premised on four clusters, the first of these clusters is food security and nutrition. Command Agriculture focuses on assisting farmers with inputs and tillage.
“Command Agriculture works hand-in glove with the Presidential input scheme to ensure food security in line with ZimAsset. “Therefore, there is no contradiction whatsoever between the two policies because they work hand-in-glove,” he said.
Ambassador Moyo said Command Agriculture is not compulsory as it is open to farmers who are confident of their capacity to deliver on targets set by authorities.
“I must emphasise that Command Agriculture is compulsory and no one is compelled to be part of it.” He added: “Instead of spending a lot of time and energy on semantics, let us till the land and work to get our economy ticking.”
