Govt sets up 78 village business units
THE Government has set up 78 village business units (VBUs) and 11 school business units (SBUs) countrywide under the Presidential Rural Development Programme.
VBUs are registered rural development enterprises meant to boost economic activity and improve the livelihoods in rural communities.
They are typically one-hectare plots equipped with irrigation systems, greenhouses, and other agricultural infrastructure where villages produce agricultural products, which are then sold to ready markets.
The VBUs programme was launched by President Mnangagwa at Jinjika village in Mangwe district, Matabeleland South, in 2021.
Up to 1,8 million households are envisaged to benefit from the programme by 2025.
In an interview, Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) corporate communications and marketing manager Mrs Marjorie Munyonga said: “A total of 78 village business units and 11 school business units (SBUs) have so far been established countrywide under the Presidential Rural Development Programme, with some of the beneficiaries already having received or anticipating dividend payouts of US$3 000.
“At least 2 270 boreholes have also been drilled as part of the programme, launched in 2021 to help uplift the livelihoods of rural communities.”
The programme, she said, was being implemented by the Ministry of Lands,
Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development as part of the broader Rural Development 8.0 initiative.
The Government is implementing the programme through the Zinwa, AFC Bank, Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA), Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA), Agritex and the Department of Irrigation.
“Under the Presidential Rural Development Programme, Zinwa is set to establish 35 000 village business units, whose components include a solar-powered borehole, one-hectare drip irrigated horticulture project, water storage reservoirs, fish ponds, communal water points and where possible orchards and poultry projects.
“The authority is also setting up school business units at 9 600 schools around the county.”
ARDA, she said, develops a business case for the VBUs and assists with registration as formal companies that are then run by locals.
“The beneficiaries are both employees and shareholders in the companies,” she continued.
“The Agricultural Marketing Authority assists the VBUs in the identification of markets for their products, which also determine the crops which the VBUs can viably produce while the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) provides funding to the VBUs.
Presently, 14 VBU have been established in Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East (four), Midlands (12), Mashonaland West (five), Masvingo (three), Matabeleland North (six), Manicaland (17) and the rest are in Matabeleland South.