The Sunday Mail
Mukudzei Chingwere
ZIMBABWE’s quest to industrialise agriculture is set to gain significant traction owing to local farmers who are excelling in the sector, Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka has said.
Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga is one such farmer, who is practising “organisational dexterity” at his Chivaraidze Farm in Goromonzi, Mashonaland East province, which has thriving crops and livestock.
The farm yesterday hosted a field day for the Roman Catholic Church, which sought to tap from the Vice President’s success as they prepare to commercialise their farms.
Taking advantage of the programme, several other commercial farmers across the country also attended.
“We have undertaken a visit to Chivaraidze Farm owned by the Vice President, where he is leading by example. The 295 hectares of wheat here are splendid,” said Dr Masuka.
“This is what you are talking about every time that we are capable of producing enough to feed the country and clearly the Vice President is showing that this is indeed possible.
“We have said we want agricultural transformation to assure this nation of perennial food security, away from the episodic weather-determined food security.”
Minister Masuka added: “What we see here and what we learn is organisation. This takes organisational dexterity to get to this level; it is not just farming.
“Farming is organisation, ensuring that the inputs are available on time; that the manager does what they are supposed to do on time.
“Clearly, from this visit, it shows that this farm is very organised and that is reflective of the leadership of the Vice President.”
Roman Catholic priest Father Fredrick Chiromba said they were charmed by the modern farming practised by VP Chiwenga.
“We decided to pay this visit . . . and see the projects that are going on here and so far what we have seen has given us a lot of hope. We are also very happy with the modernisation,” said Father Chiromba.
Commission director for Catholic Economy Father Chrispen Matsilele said they had learnt valuable farming lessons.
“We are quite very happy to learn a lot from the VP. We are working together with the VP and also the Ministry (of Agriculture) at Driefontein and there we have done 350 hectares.”
