RYAN CHIGOCHE
Finance and Economic Development Minister, Mthuli Ncube, has disclosed he will this year spend about US$20m from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cash windfall on irrigation facilities .
In August last year, Zimbabwe received about US$1bn cash windfall from IMF.
Ncube said the US$20m will be used in 18 irrigation schemes.
“Agriculture will be well supported this year. So, for a start. We are going to be investing in irrigation. We are going to launch as part of the IMF Special Drawing Rights, a US$20m irrigation fund to support 18 irrigation schemes across the country,” Ncube said.
He also disclosed plans to acquire more mechanisation machinery.
“We also have put in place facilities to acquire additional machinery for the industry such as tractors, combined harvesters from countries such as Belarus, India and the USA.”
Ncube also urged industry players to start using weather insurance financial products to protect the crop from the vagaries of bad weather and climate change.
