By Lubalethu Ndlovu
The government has challenged farmers in the country to come up with creative strategies to boost the agriculture sector, which is facing a myriad of challenges.
Zimbabwe’s agricultural output is set to further decline in the 2019/2020 cropping season owing to poor rains.
Addressing stakeholders at a strategic planning workshop in Bulawayo Monday, Ministry of Lands Water and Agriculture Deputy Minister Douglas Karoro, challenged farmers to be innovative in the face of climate change related challenges.
“In our case climate change, low productivity, new pests and diseases, limited access to finances to name just a few are hitting us hard and hitting our sector hard. These are our current realities but we have to face them head on so that we grow,” said Karoro.
The Deputy Minister added that farmers need to shift their mind-set from all challenges the sector is facing and come up with strategies that will grow the farming sector.
“We need to shift our thinking gears from negative to positive thinking from positive thinking to possibility thinking from possibility thinking to creative thinking, let’s come up with strategies on how to grow our sector,” urged the Deputy Minister.
Karoro said the agricultural sector could only be revived if stakeholders and farmers came together to work as a team.
“It is our responsibility to grow the agriculture sector; we can do so much; teamwork is at the core and pith of everything. After this session, let us go back and work on implementation, implementation and implementation,” he emphasised.
