TENDAI BHEBE
The Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA)’s Vision 2030 accelerator agriculture programme has transformed communities in Umguza district, Matabeleland North Province.
Speaking at the commissioning of the Phaphamani Irrigation scheme in Umguza on Tuesday this week, ARDA chief executive officer CEO, Tinotenda Mhiko, said the programme was a huge success as it had already passed the minimum income per capita of US$4000 per household per year.
“This is surely another milestone and revolutionary of Vision 2030 accelerator model. It is a model that has been rolled out across the irrigation schemes. So, on this scheme, we are expecting a dividend of US $1780 per household from the summer crops and for the wheat we are expecting close to US$4000,” Mhiko said.
He said the minimum income per capita per household was at US$6000.
In an interview with Business Times, Obert Jiri, the chief director at the Agricultural and Rural Development Advisory Services Directorate department said ARDA deployed a manager to assist the farmers.
“It (irrigation scheme) has an ARDA manager and follows its system which means that all the farmers or beneficiaries of the scheme grow the same crop at the same time. The ARDA manager assists the management in ensuring that the block system has been adhered to, inputs are procured in bulk and then they grow in the block system and sell in bulk.”
The National Development Strategy targets to provide agricultural infrastructure that will lead to the attainment of a US$8.2bn agriculture economy by 2030.
The government in 2019 restructured irrigation schemes model to accelerator model programme after realising that the majority of schemes were not viable largely due to lack of diversity and failure to plan.
