ZIMBABWE is set to receive more agricultural machinery from Belarus this year, officials have said.
A Belarusian delegation led by Vice-Prime Minister Viktar Karankevich re-affirmed its country’s commitment to expanded farm mechanisation and industrialisation initiatives during their visit to Zimbabwe on Monday.
The visit was part of Mid-Term Review of the Joint Permanent Commission on Co-operation.
The delegation toured Bison Agro-Machinery, a local firm owned by the Belarusian government which offers after-sale services to ensure sustained support and maintenance for the equipment.
Karankevich said the visit sought to cement and review existing relations.
“The agricultural sector remains a top priority in the short to long term,” Karankevich said.
“We are particularly interested in expanding our support for mechanisation projects to boost food security and rural development in Zimbabwe.”
Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development permanent secretary Obert Jiri noted the transformative impact of Belarusian agricultural support on the country’s economic growth.
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“The projects from Belarus have further scaled up the level of the agricultural sector, which is a key enabler of our economy,” Jiri said.
“Their interest in investing more in machinery, including tractors, is a welcome development that will improve productivity.”
Industry and Commerce minister Mangaliso Ndlovu echoed similar sentiments.
“Increased co-operation with Belarus will further enhance industrial capacity, job creation and skills transfer,” he said.
Belarus has provided Zimbabwe with agricultural equipment such as tractors and combine harvesters under the Joint Agricultural Mechanisation Facility Programme, now in its third phase.
In 2019, President Emmerson Mnangagwa visited Belarus.
Four years later, his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko came to Zimbabwe on his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa to cement the two countries’ friendship.
Zimbabwe has received thousands of tractors and combine harvesters from the Eastern Europe country under various phases of the bilateral agricultural mechanisation programme.
