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Africa Moyo Deputy News Editor
Citizens have been advised to take advantage of technological changes to improve agricultural output.

This was said by Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) director-general Dr Gift Machengete in a speech read on his behalf by the Authority’s head of consumer affairs and publicity, Mr George Manyaya.

He said this last week during the World Consumer Rights Day in Gweru, which ran under the theme, “The Sustainable Consumer”, but with a special focus on e-agriculture.

Dr Machengete said ICTs have emerged as key enablers and drivers of innovation and competitiveness.

“Going digital is therefore no longer a simple matter of choice or a demonstration of lavishness, rather it is the new substratum of our economy and a driver of the much-needed growth,” said Dr Machengete.

ICTs are seen as critical as they play a pivotal role in the agricultural sector through facilitating access to timely and accurate information to stakeholders.

The use of technology, especially mobile applications, has seen the development of e-agriculture applications to improve livelihoods through increased agricultural productivity, reduced agricultural production risks, and increased incomes.

Dr Machengete said due to the centrality of agriculture to Zimbabwe, there was need for the development of relevant, people-centric ICT, services and applications.

The Government, through Potraz has established the Innovation Drive to support and promote young innovators to advance their ideas, protect their intellectual property rights and deploy their technical solutions for use in Zimbabwe and the global market. The initiative is expected to equip youths with skills and resources that enable them to create employment for themselves and others.

Potraz has adopted hackathons, which are expected to increase the number of innovators benefiting under the Innovation Drive. The Hackathon concept will make it possible for the Innovation Drive to provide seed capital to innovators whose projects are still at ideation stage, in the form of grants. Dr Machengete also said he was happy that the Consumer Protection Act was now in place, adding that it was now left to the Government, business and consumer representatives to cooperate to ensure consumers are protected from the various vulnerabilities like unsolicited marketing, online child abuse, invasion of privacy, inaccurate billing and substandard goods among other exposures.

Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) deputy executive director Ms Rose Mpofu said consumers should spend money wisely to avoid being caught unawares by future challenges.

“I urge you parents to spend wisely. As consumers you should beware; and know that you need to eat today and tomorrow. Do not go around saying life is tough these days, the most important thing is to plan,” said Ms Mpofu. But Ms Mpofu said some people complained of low earnings during the multi-currency regime of 2009 to 2019 although others saved money and constructed houses. Ms Mpofu added that consumers should wise up and stop losing money to unscrupulous traders.

Presently, retailers and wholesalers are charging different prices for similar products, with some disparities as high as $1 000, much to the disadvantage of consumers that do not shop around.

Addressing the same gathering, Midlands Provincial Education Director Mr Luke Mathuthu said consumers should satisfy their needs but strive to limit environmental impact. “We really need to develop the right consumer behaviour. Let me indicate that in order to have or achieve this sustainable consumer behaviour, we need to do certain things, and the first thing is information search,” said Mr Mathuthu. He said consumers should take advantage of the internet and search for information about issues happening in their neighbourhoods. Most environments are mainly dirty due to empty food containers and left-overs.