Zimpapers Logo

VP Mnangagwa

Elita Chikwati Senior Reporter
Brazil plans to supply equipment to boost livestock production under the Brazil More Food for Africa Programme aimed at ensuring national food security, the country’s envoy to Zimbabwe said yesterday.

In an interview after paying a courtesy call on Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa at his Munhumutapa Offices in Harare yesterday, Brazilian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Marcia Maro Da Silva, said her country was in the process of identifying companies that would supply the equipment.

“The equipment will be targeted at livestock production provinces. We want to empower livestock farmers so that they can build resilience and boost national food security. We will also bring grass cutters and hay balers to assist livestock farmers, and also bring more tillage equipment that can be used to dig deeper. We are now doing our tenders and we will start moving in the equipment as soon as we identify the suppliers,” she said.

On the meeting with VP Mnangagwa, Ambasador Maro Da Silva said the two parties discussed bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and Brazil and how they could be “deepened”.

She said they also discussed investment opportunities in both countries and how Zim-Asset could be supported .

“The Brazil More Food for Africa Programme works fairly well, and we have seen that people who have benefited from the irrigation programme are able to produce food throughout the year. We have visited some of the projects and have seen that the farmers will be able to get a maize yield of six tonnes per hectare. A family requires a tonne of maize and can trade the remaining five tonnes and use the money for other purposes. These farmers will also be able to assist other families in drought-stricken areas,” she said.

She said four schools were allocated land under the programme and were producing food for the schools’ feeding programme to reduce malnutrition.

Zimbabwe has already received equipment worth about $38 million under the $98 million facility provided by the South American country to support small-scale farmers.

The equipment includes tractors, fertiliser spreaders and irrigation kits. Most of the beneficiaries have already doubled yields, securing food for their households even under this year’s drought conditions.