Staff Reporter
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement Permanent Secretary Dr John Basera yesterday launched three digital knowledge resources to equip farmers with new trends and technologies in the agricultural sector and maximise production.
The three platforms which are ZimAgriHub, a farmer-focused national online library, the ZimAgriExtension In-Service Training Application and the Lead Farmer Online Training Programme all set through the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement, will go a long way in transforming the agricultural sector.
Speaking during the launch, Dr John Basera said the main thrust was focusing on empowering farmers as well as agricultural extension officers as the sector strides towards Vision 2030.
“The government of Zimbabwe is prioritizing leaving no one behind and the agriculture sector is one of the key precursors to the transformation of the economy. If we get agriculture right we are on the right track to get everything right. The development thrust focusses on empowering farmers as well as agricultural extension officers.
“This launch is a historic moment that is making solid strides towards Vision 2030 and agriculture is to now employ a robust innovation service that empower extensionists, farmers, researchers, students and other stakeholders,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary said the uptake and use of ICTs had greatly increased in recent years resulting in considerable reduction in the digital divide between inter urban, rural and urban areas. He revealed that the Ministry had procured about 5 000 tablets, and of these, 4 425 have been distributed to provinces with a view to achieving technical capacitation of extension staff.
“The Ministry is seized with this transformation journey and l am happy to report that thanks to His Excellency the President our extension staff were capacitated with 3 170 motorcycles. The Ministry is targeting to have all 6 000 extension officers benefit from this motorcycle capacitation initiative,” said Dr Basera.
Dr Basera highlighted that various ICT applications and solutions could improve industrial processes and quality of products, increase agricultural yields, enhance teaching and learning, whilst positively transforming lives including those of farmers.
The Permanent Secretary said the ZimAgriHub is a virtual agricultural centre of excellence designed to complement physical centres of excellence in the country, which are located at Chibero Agricultural College, Matopos Research Stations and four district centres of excellence.
Speaking during the same event, Zimbabwe Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Services (ZAKIS) head of project, Mr Waddilove Sansole said the ZimAgriHub presented an opportunity as the virtual agricultural centre of excellence to make all knowledge available in a one stop shop.
“We are finalizing the set-up of special printer that can digitalize hard copy archives, we are also going to facilitate training of CLU members to enable them use the printer to scan and curate hard copy archives, to strengthen the digital library,” said Mr Sansole.
ZAKIS is part of a larger EU-funded Zimbabwe Agricultural Growth Programme (ZAGP) that was launched in Zimbabwe in June 2019.The 40 million euro initiative seeks to boost the beef, dairy, pig, goat and poultry production.
