Vehicles boost for Agric Ministry
ANOTHER eight vehicles and 18 motorcycles have been handed over to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development under the international Zimbabwe Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Services (ZAKIS) programme to ensure the ministry’s staff carry out work efficiently.
The vehicles are part of the ongoing effort to ensure that critical agricultural and education officers are mobile so they give meaningful assistance to farmers.
Speaking at a handover ceremony held in Harare, permanent secretary in the ministry Dr John Basera said the donation came at an opportune time as it will bolster the ministry’s capacity to deliver impactful interventions in agriculture.
“We are grateful for the vehicles that we are receiving today, which will go a long way to strengthen our mandate as a Ministry,” he said.
“The project has been pivotal to add new perspectives and stock of knowledge in various agricultural themes.
“I’m informed that the capacitation has gone a notch higher, wherein today we are officially transferring the ownership of eight vehicles and 18 motorcycles to the Ministry. This great partnership gesture will go a long way in strengthening the integration of agricultural research, education, and extension which the ZAKIS project has been promoting since its inception in 2018.
“The EU-funded Zimbabwe Agricultural Growth Programme (ZAGP) presented great opportunities in the livestock value chains, but more importantly allow me to acknowledge the ZAKIS project which focuses on the transformation of agriculture research, extension and education system.”
ZAKIS project helped the Ministry to launch the Agriculture Education for Development 5.0 curriculum in August 2021.
The new curriculum, which has five components of training, business advisory, research, innovation, and entrepreneurship, is designed to meet the agricultural development needs of the country.
Dr Basera said 523 first year students enrolled in the country’s eight agricultural training colleges, following the roll-out of the new curriculum, had started benefitting from the content.
“ZAKIS is developing the lead farmer training application and we hope that our appeal for them to develop the Virtual College will be implemented as soon as possible,” he said.
“ZAKIS has also established ward information centres in Mhondoro-Ngezi, Chegutu, Insiza and Matobo districts where farmers can access the internet and audio-visual training material on agricultural practices.”
Welthungerhilfe country director Matthias Spaeth said he was pleased to work with partners in Government, the development sector, and other stakeholders contributing to the development of the country, adding that mobility was critical in improving efficiency in the sector.
“One of the gaps identified was mobility on the part of the targeted directorates, departments, and institutes within the Ministry that the project sought to work with,” he said.
“This is why in 2019 the project capacitated three Ministry departments of agricultural research, education, and extension with utility vehicles and motorcycles.”
ZAKIS started in 2018 as one of the projects within the EU-funded Zimbabwe Agricultural Growth Programme (ZAGP) being implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development with the aim to improve agricultural productivity by implementing an integrated research, education and extension framework that is farmer centric.
The ZAKIS consortium comprises Community Technology Development Organisation (CTDO), the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and Sustainable Agriculture Technology (SAT), with Welthungerhilfe as lead.