Zimbabwe considering opening up natural regions for youth

"Let's now take our education ability and go into every industry, starting by feeding ourselves, then going into manufacturing, in every industry. You are the youths. You are the future. Let's see your worthiness and as Government, we will give you the full support".

Zimbabwe is planning to open up land in natural regions one, four, and five and to settle its youth among others in estate farms, according to a report by The Herald.

The plans are underway to boost production through different programs, said Vice President Constantino Chiwenga. During the second edition of the National Young Champion Farmer Awards in Harare, Chiwenga said that resettling people was a cautious job and ensuring their safety was the primary concern. He said, "we are in the process of developing agricultural land in regions four and five and even in other regions such as region one because of the soil texture. But we need to be careful when we resettle our people. The new land in natural regions is safe from calamities and provide better options for agricultural practices."

Chiwenga, mentioned some areas as he said, "we have earmarked Chimanimani so that we make it a horticulture, citrus, tea, and forestry area and resettle people where they will not be affected if we have another cyclone."

"In those areas along the Zambezi Valley, the Save Valley, Runde and Limpopo where we are opening huge tracts of land, we would want to see youths also getting involved in estate farms. You start from there and we know our country is secure in terms of food nutrition and sufficiency," he added.

He focused on the need for educated and skilled minds in the agriculture industry to boost productivity as he said, "let's now take our education ability and go into every industry, starting by feeding ourselves, then going into manufacturing, in every industry. You are the youths. You are the future. Let's see your worthiness and as Government, we will give you the full support".

Zimbabwe relies on imports and to have self-sustainability he said, "our economy is agro-based. As Government, we continue to give priority to the agricultural sector through various programs such as farm mechanization where a certain quote is reserved for the youth".