Zimpapers Logo

Elton Manguwo 

NON-GOVERNMENTAL organisation, Welthungerhilfe Zimbabwe yesterday donated eight off-road vehicles and 18 motorcycles to the Government, as it wound up the Zimbabwe Agriculture Knowledge Information Systems (ZAKIS) project.

Speaking during the handover ceremony at Ngungunyana Building in Harare, Welthungerhilfe Zimbabwe country Director Mr Matthias Spaeth said as part of the organisation’s exist strategy, the vehicle transfers marked the gradual handover process of project assets to the Government.

“By April this year we plan to have handed over the agricultural centres of excellence and ward information centres while finishing the outstanding work on various digital solutions,” said Mr Spaeth.

Since it commenced the programme managed to implement various projects in pursuit of integrating agriculture research and extension to benefit farmers.

“We succeeded in establishing agriculture centres of excellence with education for development 5, 0 curriculum complemented by the launch of the various digital innovations in support of agriculture development, which include the Zim Agri Hub website,” said Mr Spaeth.

In addition, the ZAKIS project managed to create ward information centres where farmers can access the internet and various training material in local languages to improve agricultural productivity.

The main objective of the ZAKIS programme is to contribute to improved agricultural productivity by implementing an integrated research education and extension that is farmer centric.

Mr Spaeth highlighted that at the start of the of the ZAKIS programme, areas requiring projects were identified through a needs assessment exercise.

“One of the gaps identified was mobility challenges and therefore in 2019 the project capacitated the departments of Agricultural Research, Education and Extension under the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development with vehicles and motor cycles for use in in agriculture development,” he said.

The project is being implemented by four partners namely the Community Technology Development Organisation (CTDO), the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the Sustainable Agriculture Technology (SAT).

The project, which was set to end beginning of this year will continue to operate following approval from the European Union (EU) to run for another 11 months.

“We are happy to inform you that to inform you that as of yesterday our no-cost extension was approved by the EU till December 2023 and I look forward to working here with our various partners in Government, the development sector and other stakeholders in contributing to the development of this of country,” said Mr Spaeth.

Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development permanent secretary Dr John Basera said the vehicles donation would go a long way in strengthening the integration of research and extension in the country.