The ManicaPost
Lovemore Kadzura
Rusape Correspondent
THE Second Republic is leaving no stone unturned in its quest to economically empower those in the agricultural sector so that they can migrate from subsistence to commercial farming.
By the year 2030, Government intends to have set up a staggering 35 000-solar powered boreholes in all villages across the country.
This year alone, 5 000 boreholes will be drilled across the nation.
This will enable the people of Zimbabwe to embark on various projects that will change their lifestyles for the better as the solar powered boreholes are expected to open doors for the communities to venture into drip irrigation, horticulture production, fisheries, as well as cattle rearing, among other things.
The programme dovetails with Vision 2030, under which Zimbabwe seeks to attain an upper middle income economy in the next eight years.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister, Dr Anxious Masuka said his ministry has set up a complete package under the Presidential Rural Development Programme to address food security, import substitution, poverty alleviation and eradication, access to safe and clean water and employment creation for rural communities.
Dr Masuka said this while launching the Presidential Rural Development Programme at Sweetwater in Nyahukwe Village last week on Saturday.
He said the programme complements existing initiatives such as the Horticulture Recovery Plan and the Agriculture Food Systems Transformation Strategy, which seeks to achieve a US$8,2 billion Agricultural Sector by 2025.
“The Presidential Rural Development Programme is an accelerator for the attainment of Vision 2030, anchored on the provision of water as a right and as an economic enabler.
“Water will cause agricultural development which will result in rural industrialisation. Rural industrialisation will spur rural development, which will in turn facilitate the attainment of Vision 2030.
“This will transform rural communities from being largely economic spectators to economic actors and participants. Under the programme, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) intends to drill and equip a total of 35 000 boreholes by 2025. This means a borehole in each of the 35 000 villages in Zimbabwe.
“The programme is a complete package which will address food security, import substitution, poverty alleviation, access to safe and clean water and employment creation.
“This approach will see Zinwa providing water infrastructure. The irrigation department will provide drip irrigation infrastructure and security, while ARDA, supported by Agritex, will provide agronomy support. AFC will provide seed financing for the production of cash crops, while AMA and ZimTrade will provide marketing support.
“The Tobacco Research Board and the Department of Research and Specialist Services will provide sweet potato vines to households, while the Forestry Commission will provide fruit tree seedlings. The Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Department will provide support in fish farming,” said Dr Masuka.
He added that schools will not be left out as all the country’s 9 778 schools will each get a solar powered borehole.
The Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Honourable Nokuthula Matsikenyere said the initiative will close the gap between rural and urban people’s incomes.
“This is a game changing and life transforming programme. Lives of hundreds of thousands of Manicaland people will be enhanced. This will consequently narrow the income gap between rural people and their urban counterparts.
“As Manicaland, we really appreciate Government’s efforts in repositioning rural communities and turning them into critical economic players. Be assured that this programme will be a huge success in our province as the people and their leadership are more than ready to see it succeeding,” said Minister Matsikenyere.
