By Albert Makandenge
Leading the country efforts to resuscitate agriculture is the government’s agricultural ministry recently named the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement. The key elements of its agricultural recovery plan include diversification of food production and consumption, capacitation of extension services delivery, speeding up irrigation development programmes and the innovation and modernization of agriculture. The ministry, currently headed by Dr. Anxious Jongwe Masuka and deputy Ministers Douglas Karoro and Vangelis Haritatos, oversees the Department of Research and Specialist Services, AGRITEX (Agricultural Technical and Extension Services) and Veterinary Technical Services and performs the following functions.
- Formulation, review and implementation of viable agricultural policies and legislation.
- Development of strategies to ensure production and productivity of food and non-food agricultural products for self-sufficiency and security.
- Provision of animal and plant disease and pest control services to the agricultural sector.
- Designing of strategies and guidelines for the implementation of enterprise of industry specific policy objectives in the agricultural sector.
- Provision of agricultural engineering, mechanization and irrigation services to the agricultural sector.
- Identification and development of effective markets and marketing systems for agricultural products.
- Coordination and mainstream implementation of regional and international treaties, protocols, agreements, and standards into our national law.
- Provision of leadership in advocacy and awareness of agriculture and water.
- Provision of extension and advisory services.
- Facilitation and coordination of capacity development in the areas of agriculture and water sectors.
- Participating in the development and implementation of SADC and other regional and international organization’s water resource, pests and diseases management framework.
- Management and administration of land and water resources.
- Conduction of national mapping and cadastral surveys.
- Establishment and maintenance of agricultural information systems
- Generation of appropriate technologies, information and knowledge that addresses crop and livestock production and management needs of farmers.
At vaMudhumeni we are very excited about this initiative aimed at expanding and making resources available to Zimbabwean farmers to help improve production all around. At vaMudhumeni we are thrilled to see so much being done to help farmers from our nations leaders, and we pledge to continue with our dedication to #helpingfarmersgrow in Zimbabwe and across all of Africa. Visit our blog at www.vaMudhumeni.org to learn more about farming, whether you are starting out or have been at it for a while. We also have WhatsApp groups dedicated to different farming topics as well as other social media platforms dedicated to farming like fakebook, Instagram and Twitter.