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| Vice President Kembo Mohadi hands over the award to minister Marapira |
Upenyu Chaota
The
Minister of State in the office of Vice President Kembo Mohadi, Davison
Marapira has been crowned the best 2020 Masvingo provincial producer farmer at
the inaugural Zimlife Agriculture Merit Awards (ZAMA) held last Thursday at the
State House in Harare.
The
Masvingo North legislator also took third position in the national achievers
award for mixed farming.
President
Emmerson Mnangagwa was the guest of honor at the colorful ceremony supported by
his two deputies Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi.
Marapira
has been leading in the province flexing his farming prowess in winter wheat
and maize production.
Marapira
also brags of producing some of the finest cattle and goat breeds in the
country and his farm has become a poster child for President Mnangagwa’s
agricultural vision.
Speaking
to TellZim News after the ceremony, the elated Marapira said that the awards
will help to boost the morale of farmers and encourage positive competition
which will make Zimbabwe food secure.
“These
are the first Agriculture Awards where serious commercial farmers are awarded
for their achievements. This will
encourage us as farmers to keep on producing more and bring more research into
our farms.
“Awards
of this kind will bring serious competition in the field of agriculture and
challenges farmers to think outside the box to maximize yields,” said Marapira.
He said
livestock production has not been given enough recognition over the years but
was happy the ‘new dispensation’ has done things differently.
“Livestock
farmers have been forgotten but animal meat brings a lot of protein on the
table. Almost everything from animals is used in the production and
manufacturing systems be it meat, blood, hides, skin and hooves.
“It is
important to note that a country which imports basic food like maize, cooking
oil, flour, meat and soya beans will have serious problems in balancing its
books especially when it comes to balancing between imports and exports.
“There
was a time when Zimbabwe used to import all things agriculture but President
Mnangagwa came and changed all that. We should produce because we have the
land.
“Agriculture
is now being given the attention it deserves and I am happy our farmers are
responding positively to the production call from our President,” said
Marapira.
He said
if agriculture is given enough support, it has the potential to employ many
people thereby addressing the unemployment gap in the country.
“Good agriculture
employees more than 70 percent of our people and it creates 70 percent of our
raw materials. It also 30 percent of our
foreign currency earnings and most of all it provides food and security to our
people,” said Marapira.
