THE sustainability of Zimbabwe’s agriculture will be up for discussion at a webinar to be headlined by Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement minister Anxious Masuka, on Monday next week.
The webinar, to be hosted by the Daily News, will feature a high-powered panel which includes Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Shadreck Makombe, Zimbabwe Farmers Union secretary-general Paul Zakariya, Tobacco Research Board chief executive officer Dahlia Garwe, agricultural economist Peter Gambara and livestock specialist Paul Chatikobo.
The Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) — the publishers of the Daily News and the Daily News on Sunday — has described the forthcoming webinar as a timely event for stakeholders in the agricultural sector ahead of the 2021/22 summer cropping season.
“The webinar is an opportune one which comes on the back of a very successful season. It is therefore important to build on this success which came after the nation had endured devastating droughts. The theme ‘Reinforcing the sustainability of agriculture in Zimbabwe’ is therefore very appropriate,” said ANZ commercial director Lewis Chikurunhe.
Among other objectives, Chikurunhe said the forthcoming webinar would explore ways to take the country’s agricultural sector a notch up by tapping into the expertise of a very knowledgeable panel.
“Given the importance of the issue under discussion, we felt duty-bound to put together some of the best brains from the country’s agriculture sector.
“We are happy with the calibre of the discussants and we are confident that they will hold an insightful discussion with the minister,” said Chikurunhe.
The webinar, to be moderated by Christina Nyirenda-Chimuka, comes amid projections by the government that agriculture will grow to more than US$8, 2 billion within the next four years.
According to minister Masuka, Zimbabwe experienced massive growth in agriculture last year was a result of collaboration between Government and the private sector.
“In the first year of implementation, we have grown from US$5, 8 billion to US$7, 8 billion. This confirms that the target will be passed this year and agriculture will be much more than an US$8, 2 billion industry by 2022, ahead of the initial deadline of 2025,” he told state media recently.
