The Government has reaffirmed that value addition and beneficiation will be central to Zimbabwe’s agricultural growth trajectory as the nation intensifies efforts to achieve an upper middle income economy by 2030, positioning agriculture as both an economic stabiliser and a catalyst for industrial expansion.
Speaking in Harare on Thursday during an engagement with stakeholders, the Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Honourable Vangelis Haritatos, said value addition remains the cornerstone of the country’s long term development vision, particularly within the framework of the National Development Strategy Two, where agriculture anchors multiple cross cutting pillars of economic transformation. His remarks served as a robust defence of a policy direction that seeks to shift Zimbabwe from exporting raw commodities to exporting high value processed outputs that retain wealth within local communities.
Honourable Haritatos noted that crops such as cotton, once celebrated as a cash spinner that empowered rural families, suffered a sharp decline due to limited beneficiation and the dominance of raw lint exports. He stressed that reviving the cotton value chain, commonly known as white gold, has the potential to generate multiple by products and unlock millions of dollars in foreign currency, reinforcing rural economies and strengthening national export earnings. He added that the same applies to tobacco, where Zimbabwe is currently achieving only eleven percent value addition despite being among the world’s largest producers. Increasing value addition, he said, could raise national earnings to more than five billion United States dollars by 2028, a projection that aligns with the agriculture portfolio’s twenty one pillars under NDS2.
While highlighting long term industrialisation goals, Honourable Haritatos emphasised that food security remains a foundational priority. The climate proof Pfumvudza Intwasa programme, which has become a reliable backbone of household and national food stocks, is now being complemented by expanded mechanisation to ensure productivity gains across all farmer categories. He noted that precision agriculture will be essential for scaling yields, reducing losses, and adapting to climate variability.
“We are deepening partnerships to bring more tractors and combine harvesters, particularly to support our smallholder farmers, enhancing efficiency from land preparation to harvest,” he said, underscoring the shift toward inclusive mechanisation.
Honourable Haritatos further urged financial institutions to craft financing models that speak directly to the realities of small, medium, and commercial farmers, arguing that inclusive funding structures form the lifeblood of any durable value chain. Strengthening access to capital, he said, is fundamental for agro processing growth, rural industrialisation, and the overall competitiveness of Zimbabwean agricultural exports.
As Government defends and accelerates value addition, the thrust reflects a broader national ambition to turn agriculture from a primary sector into a fully fledged industrial driver, transforming raw commodities into export ready finished goods, and ensuring that communities benefit more from the wealth generated by their land.
