VBUs to change the face of Buhera
BUHERA has received a major shot in the arm following the implementation of key economic drivers that form the basis of its transformative development trajectory ahead of the 2024 national Independence Day Celebrations at Murambinda B High School grounds.
From rehabilitation of the road network to the construction of a modern standard pitch, new classroom blocks have been built, while others have received a facelift.
Owing to the district’s severe aridity, boreholes have been sunk to augment the provision of water for domestic consumption and productive uses. Significant strides have been made in equipping the water sources with the requisite solar powered accessories to make them fully functional.
These are the long-term benefits the people of Buhera will continue enjoying after successfully hosting the independence commemorations.
These projects are a vehicle for high impact and life-changing fruitful outcomes, fuelling the country’s drive towards Vision 2030 to attain an empowered and prosperous upper-middle income society.
The end game of these initiatives and programmes being rolled out by the Second Republic is inclusive development — a state of progression and transformation that leaves no one and no place behind.
Firm foundation
Under the ongoing Presidential Rural Development Programme, previously marginalised areas are also prominently featuring in the national transformational growth matrix.
Government’s Rural Development 8.0 initiative — whose other components include the Vision 2030 Accelerator Model, Pfumvudza/Intwasa, Presidential Poultry Scheme, the Presidential Goat Scheme, Presidential Fisheries Scheme, Presidential Blitz Tick Grease Scheme and the Presidential Cotton Inputs Scheme — is igniting unprecedented expansion in the countryside.
Under this programme, Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) is set to drill 35 000 boreholes in the country’s eight rural provinces, translating to a borehole each for every village among the 35 000 by 2025.
Cue the village business units (VBUs)
In line with the Second Republic’s rural industrialisation agenda, the roll out of VBUs is already underway and already 50 VBUs have been established in Buhera alone, while another 50 are expected to be up and running ahead of the Uhuru celebrations.
VBUs are broad-based viable enterprises envisaged to have multiple benefits to rural communities.
They comprise of one-hectare drip irrigated nutrition and horticulture garden, water storage reservoirs, fish ponds, orchards and poultry projects.
The areas largely targeted are in regions
four and five — which are ordinarily dry areas.
In Manicaland, VBUs have also been established in Chisuma, Temaruru, Tamburikayi, Hakwata, Chichesa, Mutema Secondary and at Chief Mutema’s homestead.
A visit to Buhera last week revealed that work is already at advanced stages to operationalise the VBUs into vibrant enterprises.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister, Dr Anxious Masuka last week toured some of the completed VBUs, including one at Dzenga in Village 14, Buhera West Constituency.
Acting Chief Director for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Advisory Services, Mr Leonard Munamati said VBUs will be established alongside youth business units and school business units.
He said these are robust measures being put in place to mitigate the adverse impact of the El Nino-induced drought that ravaged the 2023/24 summer cropping season and threatened food security in the province.
Beyond that, the VBUs will ensure the provision of clean and safe water sources as well as food and nutrition and financial security to the rural population.
The beneficiaries receive seed from Government to kick-start their agricultural ventures.
“The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development is currently involved in the drilling of boreholes
and establishing VBUs, youth business units and school business units.
The target is to establish at least 10 000 VBUs by the end of this year and to achieve that, we are targeting to establish at least 1 000 VBUs, YBUs and SBUs every month,” said Mr Munamati.
He said each VBU occupies one hectare and has a solar-powered borehole which will be fitted with tanks to facilitate drip irrigation.
“These VBUs are normally about one hectare each and have a borehole that is drilled on site and that borehole will have solar-powered tanks installed so that there is drip irrigation. These are very important components because if we managed 10 000 of these it will mean 10 000 hectares of irrigated land,” he explained.
The VBUs will also carry out aquaculture and horticulture, he added.
“The boreholes will, among other functions, provide drinking water for the communities, provide water for the establishment of nutritional gardens, orchards, fishery projects and water for dip-tanks,” he said.
Mechanisation and optimisation
The VBUs are receiving technical, extension and advisory support from Government through the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development to mechanise and optimise their operations to ensure sustainability.
To maximise viability, collaborative and synchronised efforts between Government departments and agencies like Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA), Agriculture and Rural Development Authority (ARDA), Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC), Agriculture and Rural Development Advisory Service (ARDAS — formerly Agritex) and Agriculture Marketing Authority (AMA), among others, will steer the VBUs.
ARDA develops the business model for the VBUs and assists in their registration as formal entities run on sound commercial lines by locals.
AMA contributes in the identification and linkages to markets for the VBUs’ products, which also determines the various crops they can viably grow.
AFC provides the funding while ARDAS is responsible for extension and advisory services.
Previously marginalised rural communities are set to reap the fruits of the programme, with women and young people being the main targeted beneficiaries.
Villagers in Buhera hailed the VBUs project, commending Government for initiating and implementing programmes that benefit rural communities.
The villagers said farming can be a very lucrative venture when run as a business.
“As villagers we are excited that we can now run a business of our own through farming. We are now utilising the land which had been lying idle, thanks to the availability of water sources that can facilitate drip irrigation. We will work hard to produce food for ourselves and also sell the produce to earn an income. By next month, we should be able to market some of our produce,” said Mrs Gracious Magumbo.
A youth in the area, Mr Aleck Mabwe said with this latest development their lives will never be the same again.
“Given that we live in a dryland water is an essential resource. These solar-powered boreholes are a real game-changer that will go a long way to transform our lives. With drip irrigation, we are geared for increased production and productivity,” he said.
Water is one of the most important resources required in enhancing people’s livelihoods and is just what the doctor ordered for the nutrition gardens to grow a wide range of fruit trees in the villages.
NDS 1 driven Vision 2030
Crucially, the projects being implemented by the Second Republic speak to the 14 key pillars of National Development Strategy (NDS1) — the country’s development blueprint to achieve the national aspiration of Vision 2030.
Director for Agricultural Advisory and Rural Development Services (Manicaland), Mrs Phillipa Rwambiwa said VBUs are a game changer to transform rural communities.
“The VBUs operated using solar-powered boreholes will open up avenues for the local communities to establish horticulture gardens, drip irrigation for high-value horticultural crops and nutrition gardens as well as fisheries, and piped water schemes.
“This is one way of empowering rural women and young people to cater for their needs without depending on others. When run sustainably, the VBUs become commercially viable, which will enable the local communities to make profits and savings. Overall, this promotes new enterprise development, job creation and employment,” said Mrs Rwambiwa.
She said poverty reduction is also hinged on the operations of VBUs, thereby increasing the quality of life for rural people through improved livelihoods and multiple streams of incomes.
This, she added, should accelerate the attainment of Vision 2030 by ensuring food security, import substitution, poverty alleviation, access to safe and clean water and creating employment opportunities.
Food and nutrition security
President Mnangagwa’s administration is moving to promote resilience and sustainable farming through agriculture infrastructure development. This is evidenced by the ongoing and continuous investment in agriculture research and technology development to enhance farming output.
Accelerated agricultural production and productivity is a critical factor leading to the escalation of food self-sufficiency, which the Second Republic is working to increase from the current level to 100 percent.
“Food and nutrition security is one of the 14 national priority areas in NDS1.
‘‘With these VBUs we can achieve that end while communal livelihoods also get greatly improved. They ameliorate hunger, starvation and poverty. This also accelerates value addition and beneficiation of agriculture production while also increasing productivity,” she said.