Beverly Bizeki
Trabablas projects in Masvingo have been applauded for empowering youth in the province after unveiling opportunities through the various agro-based initiatives done at the farm.
Board chairperson for the project, Tariro Bwerinofa said the project which has over 40 beneficiaries is set to be the greenbelt of the province through the production of horticultural products.
“Trabablas projects private limited is a special purpose vehicle formed to administrate the 13 hectares (ha) of land given to the youth by government of Zimbabwe with six directors and 40 shareholders and beneficiaries from the province’s seven districts.
“Our vision is to be a greenbelt of Masvingo in terms of production of horticultural products like tomatoes, onions, okra, green pepper, butternuts and sugarcane enough to supply the whole province,” said Bwerinofa.
Though at infantry stage, the project has already managed to kick start some projects although they are working at parallel development with contributions from the youth.
“We are also proud that at company level together with other beneficiaries, we have been able to open up roads for accessibility, install temporary structures, land clearance and preparation, drill boreholes and start poultry projects,” added Bwerinofa.
The projects boasts of a million dollar fish project that has about 10 000 fish in their ponds yet to be harvested.
Bwerinofa also highlighted that the company is planning to set up a 5MW solar plant in liaison with Masvingo City Council to provide energy to be used for the basic commodity hub.
“We are planning to have a 5MW solar field at a mountain adjacent to our property in liaison with Masvingo City to provide energy for the basic commodity manufacturing hub to have the capacity to value add our agricultural products within the project site,” said Bwerinofa.
However, the project is still lacking capital expenditure for the much needed civil works for the desired infrastructure and financing for the youth to start individual projects as the project is yet to get proper documentation.
Bwerinofa also said there is need for capacity building in terms of knowledge on how to run agro businesses on the side of the beneficiaries.
