Agriculture Reporter
The Matebeleland Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Abednico Ncube has implored all Zimbabweans to take agriculture seriously as the sector has the potential to positively transform people’s lives.
Speaking on Monday at Esigodini Agriculture Centre during a capacity building workshop being hosted by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Resettlement, Minister Ncube urged the youths and women to take advantage of the various programmes being spearheaded by the Government to improve their lives.
“Government has put up a number of programmes that are targeting the youths and women who are development-oriented to ensure the attainment of food security in the nation. The Agricultural Revitalization Plan is one of the programmes adopted by the Government which is targeting youths and women to venture in both crop and livestock sector. This capacity building workshop is therefore important as it equips people with skills they need to be productive and competitive in their agricultural activities. I urge people to take advantage of such programmes to develop themselves so that they could positively contribute to the building of our great nation,” said Minister Ncube.
Minister Ncube described agriculture as a key economic enabler and urged people to take it as a business.
“The agriculture sector is a key economic enabler that will propel the growth of our nation. The sector provides the much needed household nutrition and food security. I therefore urge people to take agriculture as a business not a side hustle,” said the Minister.
Minister Ncube added that President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030 of attaining an Upper Middle Income Economy Status by 2030 is achievable if all people work together for the good of the nation.
“As a Province, we are grateful to President Mnangagwa for the agricultural programmes that he has rolled out to improve production and ensure that we all participate in building our economy through agriculture. Zimbabwe’s economy heavily depends on agriculture. I'm very confident that if we all maximize production in our farms and work extra harder in whatever we do, then Vision 2030 would be achieved,” said the Minister.
The Minister bemoaned the coming of the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected production in many sectors. He said the country could only recover from the COVID-19-induced economic effects if people work hard.
He further urged the youths to take advantage of the EmpowerBank to start small agricultural projects.
The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Resettlement capacity building workshops are being held under the theme “Growing the economy under COVID-19 era,” has been conducted in areas such as Rushinga, Gutu, Mwenezi and Esigodini with the view of equipping farmers with modern farming methods that will increase production on their farms.
