BY NYARADZO CHITUNGO
South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa officially opened the 115th Zimbabwe Agricultural Show in Harare last Friday where he commended the government for its concerted efforts to revive and boost the agricultural sector.
The show which ran under the theme “Building Bridges: Connecting Agriculture, Industry and Community”, brought together stakeholders, innovators and industry leaders to share knowledge and showcase developments in agriculture.
In his inaugural speech, Ramaphosa praised strides that have been made to revive and boost the agricultural sector.
“Agriculture is a cornerstone of the Zimbabwean economy.
“We congratulate the government of Zimbabwe for the measures it is taking to to revive the country’s agricultural sector through policy reforms, investment in irrigation and mechanisation and empowering large and small-scale farmers,” he said.
President Ramaphosa emphasized the importance of embracing modern technological advancements in boosting agricultural productivity, underscoring its potential to drive growth and development in the sector.
“Technological trends in agriculture must be fully embraced to increase output and conserve resources.
“By way of example, geo-spatial agriculture using observation and Artificial Intelligence has started to feature in some sectors of agriculture in South Africa and Zimbabwe,” he expounded.
President Ramaphosa exhorted the government to boost investment in small and medium farming entities, paying particular focus on women and the youth with the sole purpose of empowering them and beefing-up production.
“We need increased investment in small and medium farming entities particularly on women and the youth,” he said.
He added that there was grave need for investment in road, rail and aviation infrastructure in order to take agriculture to a higher level, further encouraging the private sectors in both Zimbabwe and South Africa to explore avenues for greater collaboration, resulting in more investment across borders.
He commended the government for taking on the momentous task of dismantling colonial-era patterns of land ownership in 1980.
“Most of the country’s commercially productive land and large-scale commercial farms were owned by whites. The black majority was confined to communal lands and all but completely excluded from commercial farming,” he noted.
President Ramaphosa expressed gratitude to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the people of Zimbabwe for their kind and warm hospitality and also congratulated the Zimbabwe Agricultural Society for hosting a successful event.
“This show is more than a tradition, it is a beacon of agricultural excellence, resilience, and collaboration. Let us use it as a springboard for greater partnership between our nations and across our region,” he expressed as a parting shot.
