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Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter
President Mnangagwa has outlined a great vision for Zimbabwe aimed at transforming the country into a middle-class economy by 2030.

According to the World Bank, a middle income economy is one with a gross national income ranging between US$1 005 and US$12 235 per capita.

Growing an economy to such levels within a period of 12 years is not a small feat by any measure.

Such an economy is underpinned not only by production of raw materials, but also anchored on beneficiation and value addition.

During his tour of a systems solutions company Univern Enterprises in Harare two weeks ago, President Mnangagwa said his new mantra apart from “Zimbabwe is now open for business” was that “Zimbabwe should be a middle class economy by 2030.”

To achieve the President’s vision, everyone should play their part in their areas of speciality.

A new work ethic shown by Government ministries and departments during the President’s first 100 days in office should be the order of the day both in the public and private sectors.

One catalyst project pioneered by Government that can help to achieve “Vision 2030” is the Command Agriculture programme.

During its first year of implementation, Command Agriculture enabled the country to produce surplus grain hitting three million metric tonnes against a target of two million metric tonnes. The long-term plan under this specialised programme, which also fits in well in the President’s vision, is to industrialise agriculture by way of setting dryers, mills and silos at central locations countrywide.

In line with this objective, the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda) has struck the right chord.

At its estates dotted around the country, the State entity is implementing life-changing projects under public private partnership arrangements.

A model project being implemented by Arda at its Antelope Estate in Maphisa, Matobo District in Matabeleland South, is inching closer to completing the production value chain.

The set target for the project is to produce maize and soya beans as primary raw materials for the milling and oil extraction industry in the same locality.

In a nutshell, value addition and beneficiation are at the core of Arda’s Maphisa project as envisaged by President Mnangagwa.

In partnership with Trek Petroleum, Arda has already established driers worth close to US$500 000, with a capacity of drying 120 tonnes of maize per day. Setting up of mills and oil expressing machines at Maphisa Growth Point is already underway.

This is being done under a deal between Arda and Sunset Marketing.

According to Arda Antelope Estate manager Mr Alec Chinyai, artificial drying helps maize to reach the required moisture content of 12,5 percent early instead of waiting for natural drying.

Further, the process helps to create space for other crops on the field.

It is important to note that Arda’s Antelope Estate is not an ordinary farm.

It is a model farm project that should be replicated countrywide, equipped with highly mechanised 16 centre pivots – each with a capacity of irrigating 45 hectares.

Last year, President Mnangagwa visited the estate and was satisfied with the level of production at the farm.

This year, the farm has 678 hectares of commercial maize under Command Agriculture.

Of the 678 hectares, 558 have already matured, while the remaining 120 hectares are at the milking door stage.

Mr Chinyai said they were projecting a yield of between 10 and 12 tonnes per hectare and this would give them not less than 7 000 metric tonnes of maize.

“The President has set the tone in what should be done to achieve a middle class economy by 2010. At this estate, we are not leaving anything to chance. We are going to start the milling process this year.

“We have a contract for milling and oil extraction with Sunset Marketing.

“All this is going to be done at Maphisa Growth Point and they are setting up the necessary infrastructure.”

According to Mr Chinyai, Arda Antelope Estate has the capacity to change the face of Maphisa community and contribute meaningfully to the national economy.

All they need is support from the relevant stakeholders.

“We have 3 000 hectares of irrigable land, but our dam can only sustain 1 000 hectares. Due to a heavy down pour that we have in February, our dam is already spilling and our winter cropping is guaranteed.

“When President Mnangagwa visited us when he was still the Vice President last year, he emphasised on the resumption of the construction of Mwewe Dam.

“The dam was abandoned due to the war of liberation in the 1970s, but if completed, it allows us to have our entire 3 000 hectares under irrigation at any given time.”

They are aware that value addition and beneficiation has several downstream benefits, among them employment creation.

Currently Mr Chinyai said they were employing 106 people mainly from the local community except for technical positions.

At the peak of the season, they had 300 workers and the number might go up if they increase the hectarage under irrigation.

A resident of Maphisa Growth Point Mr Sam Ncube said President Mnangagwa’s “Vision 2030” was achievable.

“It is important that we localise production to avoid rural-urban migration.

“For instance, Antelope Estate is producing thousands of metric tonnes of maize and there is no need for that maize to go to Bulawayo for milling.

“Everything should be done here to create employment for the local people.

“If we manage to minimise migration, development in rural areas will be rapid,” he said.