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Minister Joseph Made

Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Reporter
THE Government has identified Bulawayo as one of the key areas in the country with strategic silos where reserve grain would be stored for export to other countries, the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made has said.

Addressing hundreds of Zanu-PF supporters during a meeting at the ruling party’s Bulawayo provincial headquarters, Davies Hall yesterday, Dr Made said the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) silos in Bulawayo were almost full following a successful agricultural farming season under the Presidential Inputs Support scheme and the Command Agriculture scheme.

“We are going to use the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) in Bulawayo as a transitional depot so that in the event of us recording a surplus, grain from these silos will be exported.

“GMB in Bulawayo has the biggest silos in this part of the country. However, the situation that we have is that even in terms of the grain itself, the silos that are here in Bulawayo are almost getting full with the grain that we are already collecting in the southern part of the country,” he said.

Dr Made said there was a need to intensify efforts in resuscitating the Cold Storage Company (CSC), which is a major driving force in terms of the development of the southern part of the country.

“Bulawayo, as a metropolitan province, it means the southern part of the country along with the rural provinces that are Matabeleland South and North including some parts of Midlands, are going to benefit from the livestock sector in its broadest terms. We know that if the CSC is resuscitated, it will create many jobs for our people here. I want to emphasise that the revival of CSC is going to be intensified in terms of the Government support as well as the partnerships that we are going to form,” he said.

Dr Made said following the success of the Command Agriculture programme, the Government was looking forward to introducing similar schemes in the livestock sector.

“This year we are also going to introduce Command Livestock, which is a major programme. It will benefit mainly the women and youths. However, although I have mentioned the women and youths even abadala labo will benefit because there are different classes of livestock that we are going to deal with. We are going to be dealing with large livestock, which means dairy and beef in the peri-urban areas where we have got land. The second aspect of the livestock is going to be the small stock which includes any class of small livestock of your choice and it can be poultry, and it can also include turkeys or ducks and that is why I am saying these programmes are going to benefit all classes of our people,” said Dr Made.

“There is also going to be fishery and that means those with small plots, particularly the A2 as well as A1 farmers can also organise themselves so that they can be able to do fisheries in areas where we have got small or big dams.”

Dr Made said in the Command Livestock scheme, his ministry would be working with the Ministries of Environment, Water and Climate, Youths and Women’s Affairs under the fishery and wildlife components.

Dr Made commended the Presidential Inputs Support and Command Agriculture programmes which he said created many jobs for youths in country.
Maize in excess of 2,1 million tonnes is expected to be harvested this year.

President Mugabe has hailed Zimbabweans for heeding the call to participate in the hugely successful Command Agriculture Scheme.

“Last year we went through a very difficult time in terms of the drought. We were instructed by His Excellency President Mugabe to bring food and feed the people, but as the President has already explained, last year we were also able to put a crop which was supported very well by the good rains. We have two major programmes that assisted us. The first one was the Presidential Inputs Support Scheme and the second one was the Command Agriculture, ” said Dr Made.— @mashnets