ARDA’s accelerator schemes bring hope Mr Mhiko

Monalisa Chikwengo

PROGRAMMES under the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority’s (ARDA) Vision 2030 accelerator schemes have brought a new wave of hope and prosperity to communities in Matabeleland North Province with Phaphamani Irrigation Scheme in Umguza district, for instance, having already achieved a major milestone by passing the minimum income per capita of US$4 000 to US$6 000 per household per year.

ARDA chief executive Mr Tinotenda Mhiko hailed the programme as a huge success saying it had transformed the lives of farmers and their families in the district. 

He was speaking during the recent commissioning of Phaphamani Irrigation Scheme.

“This is surely a milestone and revelation of Vision 2030 accelerator model. 

“It is a model that has been rolled out across many irrigation schemes. For this scheme, we are expecting a dividend of US$1 780 per household from the summer crops and for the wheat we are expecting close to US$4 000,” Mr Mhiko said. 

The Vision 2030 accelerator model was launched by President Mnangagwa in 2021 to stimulate rural industrialisation as part of the Second Republic’s drive to scale up agricultural transformation. 

The programme supports the growth of the agriculture industry and is in line with National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1). 

It is part of the country’s five-year economic blueprint that guides implementation of bold strategies aimed at achieving economic transformation by 2030. 

“The NDS1 targets to provide agricultural infrastructure that will lead to the attainment of a $8,2 billion agriculture economy by 2030,” he said.

Government re-designed the irrigation schemes to accommodate the accelerator model programme in 2019 after realising that the majority of schemes were not viable, mostly due to lack of diversification and failure to plan.

“Under this model, the Government is stimulating the industrialisation of rural communities through engendering value addition and  beneficiation,”said Mr Mhiko.

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