Maravi

(HERALD) No room for complacency in farming

No room for complacency in farming

ZIMBABWE boasts one of the biggest economies in the region with a rich combination of natural resources, robust infrastructure, a diversified manufacturing base and a sophisticated agricultural sector as well as the most sought-after human resources. owever, a siege mentality has engulfed the nation as some Zimbabweans have lost confidence in their own economy, placing their hope in other economies where most of them now live in far worse conditions than at home.

Over the past eight years, a vicious psychological game was being played on our people to lose focus on their capacity as a major economic hub in the region. Complacency and despondency had now set in. Fortunately, the dark cloud hanging over Zimbabwe’s economy is now shifting as the country’s fortunes now look set to improve.

There are new opportunities that are emerging in various sectors of the economy, which should be vigorously pursued.

The agricultural sector, which forms the core of our economy, has benefited immensely from the massive investment in equipment by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe with thousands of new farmers now empowered while industries that provide backup services are also set to benefit.

The equipment that farmers have received so far should see a significant turnaround in the farming sector by the end of this year.

There should be no room for complacency and the same zeal that we saw in the last election should be applied to the farming sector so that everyone who has received state land, equipment and inputs performs optimally.

The Government and farmers should urgently formulate a strategy that will see the optimum use of all the land, equipment and other resources being made available by the central bank.

The same applies to the mining sector, which is also witnessing new investment inflows from Chinese, Russian, British and South African companies, among others.

Thousands of new jobs are being created in this sector while foreign currency generation is expected to rise significantly.

The commissioning of new Chinese road construction equipment by Vice President Joseph Msika in Harare on Thursday should give impetus to the resuscitation of the construction industry.

The country’s infrastructure has suffered severely over the past couple of years, but is still in a fairly good shape that it can be repaired and expanded quite easily.

Similar efforts should be applied to our power, water and telecommunications infrastructure, which our economy depends on to perform efficiently.

The manufacturing sector is fairly diversified that we can easily cope with minimal imports as we have the capacity to produce most of our needs from medicines, food and drink, clothing to heavy industrial goods such as locomotives.

Let us put our heads together and spur our economy to a higher level of excellence. An economy under siege of sanctions cannot afford to continue doing business as usual.

Labels: AGRICULTURE

posted by MrK @ 4:48 PM