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Thupeyo Muleya, [email protected]

BEITBRIDGE Rural District Council ,is working on several initiatives to accelerate the Government’s rural transformation and industrialisation agenda in line with Vision 2030 by promoting the establishment of factories.

Government is stepping up its rural industrialisation agenda with a raft of measures, which include incentivising local and foreign investors opting to invest in value chains for rural areas, being put in place to trigger economic activity.

Through rural industrialisation, the Government hopes to stem rural-to-urban migration, which saps growth from the African countryside, transferring it to towns and cities.

Rural industrialisation, which hinges on the Second Republic’s devolution policy, involves nurturing agro-processing start-up enterprises in rural areas through financial and technological support via venture capital funding and Government agencies.

Beitbridge RDC chief executive officer, Mr Peter Moyo, said processing plants for citrus by-products, wild fruits and amacimbi have been established.

“The mashonzha (amacimbi) plant is located in ward four in the Matshiloni area and it employs mostly women and youths. The project employs 10 full-time workers and seasonal ones when it’s the mashonzha/amacimbi harvesting season,” he said.

Mr Moyo said the Matshiloni plant had become a hub of modern ways of processing mashonzha or amacimbi while at the same time driving the beneficiation concept.

“Here, women process amacimbi for the market using electricity and solar to clean, dry and package their products for the local and export market,” he said

Mr Moyo, said the use of modern technology had helped locals reap more rewards unlike in the past when they used traditional amacimbi processing methods.

“In the Madaula area, we have availed land for the construction of a processing plant which for now is specialising in baobab fruits and related products,” he said.

Mr Moyo, said Beitbridge district is endowed with a lot of baobab trees, which should be preserved for future generations to benefit.

“The Mnandi Mnandi factory in Madaula is one such facility, where natural resources are being processed to transform lives.

The people are eking out a living, through processing wild fruits into various by-products,” he said.

“Communities are benefitting from the fruits by producing different foods and drinks. Others are making money from picking wild fruits and selling them.”

The baobab fruit contains high levels of Vitamin C, antioxidants, and other essential nutrients, making it a valuable food.

Mr Moyo, said the establishment of the Beitbridge Schweppes Juice plant in Mazunga is a game changer as it has transformed rural lives in the district.

Currently, Schweppes is processing oranges, lemons, and grapefruit into various by-products, including juice and oils and stock feeds at the plant, which can process 40 000 tonnes of citrus fruits every season.

The company is also extracting oils from grapefruit, lemons, and orange oils, which they are exporting to Europe and South Africa. The peel that remains is used as an ingredient for manufacturing stock feeds.

“The juice plant has boosted commercial and communal citrus production in our area creating hundreds of jobs. So far, more than 200 locals have been hired at the plant and we hope more will get jobs as citrus production grows in the district,” said Mr Moyo.

He said they are also availing more land for the establishment of abattoirs and related industries, considering that livestock production is the major economic mainstay in Beitbridge.

“We also intend to have at least four abattoirs in our area and already, we have allocated space to a local businessman in Malala village. We hope to attract more investment in that field,” said Mr Moyo.

He said they are also promoting the setting up solar-powered piped water schemes and nutritional gardens in rural areas. —@tupeyo