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Simba Pumhayi
CHINHOYI University of Technology (CUT) is a strong brand in the Higher and Tertiary Education market because of its innovative and entrepreneurial strategies that enhance its capacity in the provision of quality higher education in Zimbabwe and beyond.

The Institution is a Science, Technology, Innovation, Engineering and Mathematics-driven university and it resonates with the thrust of the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development of Heritage based Education 5.0. This philosophy focuses on five pillars which are research, teaching, community service, innovation and industrialisation.

The revival of Zimbabwe’s industry should be driven by robust agro-based activities so that the country becomes industrialised to produce goods and services. This is the thrust of Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT)’s School of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.

This School is home to the CUT Farm which is sub-divided into the Commercial Section (the Strategic Business Unit) and the Farm Research, Teaching and Extension Unit. The CUT farm also houses the Cattle Breeding Project, the Dairy Unit, the Piggery Unit, the Tobacco Curing Centre, the Poultry Farm, and the Agro-Industrial Park.

CUT aims to contribute significantly to restocking the national herd through its Cattle Breeding Project aided by the Artificial Insemination Initiative. The Cattle Breeding Project involves Artificial Insemination, Feed Production and Training.

The University produces summer and winter cattle block licks which are a hit in the livestock sector and these are now found in agro-retail shops around the country. The university is also producing supplementary feed for wildlife.

This project is a culmination of sheer research grit determination by Animal Production researchers the university has among its academic ranks. Research is leading to the production of tangible goods and services that translate to monetary terms.  The feed factory has proved to be a cash cow for Chinhoyi University of Technology.

The Cattle Breeding Project aims to provide artificial insemination services through the collection, distribution and sale of quality semen doses from proven disease free bulls at the semen station of the college, production of quality genetics; screening and diagnostics of reproductive diseases in cows, bulls and semen doses. The university is now capable of producing close to four thousand straws of semen an hour.

This should go a long way in improving and rebuilding the national herd while improving on the quality of the beasts and the beef. An array of equipment at CUT Farm and Germplasm Laboratory has been acquired by the University from the Research Development and Commercialisation of Innovation Fund through the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development.

The cattle breeding chain continues with the establishment of CUT Dairy Milking Parlour. From selected genetic dairy breeds, Chinhoyi University of Technology has embarked on a value addition project that should create downstream industries and employment. The Milking Parlour is expected to claim a leading space in the dairy industry.

The Innovation and Business Hub at CUT is evidence of the actualisation of tenets of Heritage based Philosophy Education 5.0. This is a curriculum reform conceptual framework necessitated by the need to prepare students for job creation and not to

be job seekers. It supports the application of gained knowledge on the local environment in order to produce relevant goods and services. The university has played a pivotal role in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic by producing alcohol-based sanitisers, detergents and face masks.

The School of Art and Design has a Department of Clothing Fashion Design whose students have taken the clothing fashion industry by storm. The School has a functional Garment Production Unit that continues to save the University thousands of dollars by making protective wear for the employees. The Unit has grown in leaps and bounds and it has played a pivotal role at the advent Covid-19 pandemic by producing thousands of face masks and medical regalia. The Garment Production Unit produces graduation regalia and protective wear for corporates and individuals.

“As Chinhoyi University of Technology, the Institution is a cutting edge University with the mandate to drive technology development and to produce captains of industry and commerce. These are critical drivers of national economic recovery.

In our quest to produce goods and services, create downstream industries and employment CUT has taken its place among notable human capital developers for industry. Becoming an Industrial university is our dream”, the Vice Chancellor Professor David Jambgwa Simbi observes.

Chinhoyi University of Technology is also a proud owner of two (L**) two-star hotels and a lodge. It owns CUT Hotel, Orange Grove Motel and Caravan Park and a lodge in the resort town of Kariba. The CUT Group of Hotels forms part of the Strategic Business Units (SBUs) of the University apart from its 2000ha farm.

The hotels act as a training school and laboratory for students pursuing studies in Hospitality and Tourism. It is from this background that CUT is the Higher Education brand that addresses the needs of the socio-economic needs of the Zimbabwe for it to become a middle economy by 2030. Join this young, growing and vibrant University. It is indeed “a cutting edge university!”