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George Maponga in Masvingo

At least 88 000 hectares of land under the Agricultural Rural Development Authority (ARDA) will go under different crops over the next three years, as Government positions the authority to become the anchor of national food security in line with Vision 2030.

Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Dr Anxious Masuka said today that Government wanted ARDA to rebrand and become the arrowhead of rural industrialisation and transformation through optimum use of some of its idle estates.

Speaking as he officially opened an ARDA strategy meeting attended by the parastatal and its various partners in Masvingo, Dr Masuka noted that about 13 000ha of ARDA land was under crops out of a potentially arable 88 000ha.

He said Government wanted ARDA to become the fibre, food, and bio-fuel security pillar of the nation as Zimbabwe sought to attain an upper middle-income economy status.

The new thrust by Government seeks to transform the authority from being an administer of farming in the country to a leading enterprise by 2030.

ARDA has vast estates around the country, most of which remain idle and underutilised owing to years of neglect and lack of investment.

A new board and top management appointed recently is pushing to position the parastatal as one of the main pillars of food security through joint ventures with private players and investment by the state.

During the ARDA strategy session, the authority’s partners will make presentations outlining their plans to ramp up production and help grow the economy.