Staff Reporter

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Dr John Basera has revealed that Zimbabwe has regained its Southern Africa bread basket status due to the Second Republic’s investments in the agriculture sector.

Dr Basera made the remarks during a field day in Kwekwe last Friday and emphasised the need to consolidate and sustain the newly regained status.

“We are already the bread basket of Southern Africa. The question now is how do we sustain and consolidate that status. We are only one of the two African countries which are flour and wheat self-sufficient. These developments are happening after the advent of the Second Republic,” Dr Basera said.

The Permanent Secretary added that 375 000 tonnes of wheat was achieved last year against the annual requirement of 360 000 metric tonnes of wheat 

According to Dr Basera, the record wheat harvest was the first in many years, after having been realised around the 1960s. 

Dr Bhasera added that Zimbabwe was still capable of achieving President Mnangagwa’s target of an US$8 billion Agricultural Industry by 2025.

“The country reached US$8.1 billion in the 2021/2022 period, which was intended to be achieved in five years since 2020.  Zimbabwe produced 2.7 million metric tonnes of maize, the second-highest output after the 1980s, and cotton export earnings increased from US$10-15 million to US$80-90 million. The US$8 billion Agricultural Industry is still achievable.” Basera said.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa in the 1980s and early 1990s. However, the agricultural sector faced many challenges due to the illegal sanctions imposed by the West in the early 2000s.