Matabeleland youth farmers collaborate to boost productivity

Mthabisi Tshuma, Business Correspondent
YOUTH farmers in Matabeleland North and Bulawayo provinces have joined hands in increasing piggery and goat production with the aim of servicing the export market.

The partnership is in line with the drive to increase food production and creating more jobs as guided by the country’s desire to achieve an upper middle-income economy by 2030. The youth initiative seeks to take agriculture as a business and is being pioneered by Inotho Kubomama in co-operation with the Youths in Agriculture Apex Council Board (YAACB) Matabeleland North and Bulawayo provinces.

One of the YAACB Matabeleland North leaders, Ms Lungile Nyathi, said they engaged their Bulawayo counterparts to jointly push on projects in piggery, goat rearing and poultry farming. “The piggery project for Mat North is based in St Luke’s while goat rearing is being set there and also in Lupane. Through this we want to become the country’s hub of livestock production,” said Ms Nyathi.

Her Bulawayo counterpart, Mrs Nonceba Mwedzi-Agwaniru, said they decided to partner as a way of increasing livestock production and achieving Vision 2030. “We decided to collaborate as farmers because our region is suitable for livestock rearing. We have just launched a goat rearing project in line with Vision 2030, which compels us to take agriculture as a business.

“This is an expansion on the piggery project, which we were assisted by Government and we are targeting export market realising that our food and livestock in the country is non-organic. This gives us a big opportunity for exports,” said Mrs Mwedzi-Agwaniru.

She said three teams have since benefited from the “pass-on” programme through which youths are supported with livestock inputs and pass on the benefit to their peers.

“We have so far empowered three teams of four members each. We have one team in Mat North in Insuza. We will continue touring the two provinces so that we can spread the programme to other farmers,” she said.

“To ensure that the farmers are well versed to the techniques for sustainable livestock rearing we are being assisted and mentored by Dr Evans Sagomba who has implemented the same project on behalf of the UN Sustainable Development projects in Uganda, Zambia and Malawi.” Going forward the youth farmers have said they want to venture into intensive farming and desire to get more land. – @mthabisi_mthire.

You Might Also Like

Comments