Belarus pledges increased agriculture cooperation with Zimbabwe

ZIMBABWE’S agriculture sector is set for a major transformation following a pledge on Wednesday by top visiting Belarussian official to assist the country to revamp the sector through value addition and modern technology.

Belarus Deputy Prime Minister Leonid Zayets is in the country heading a high powered delegation to explore business opportunities in Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector.

As part of the visit, the delegation is scheduled to tour several farms and agro-based companies, including dairy and livestock production. On Wednesday, the Belarussians visited Dairiboard Zimbabwe Limited (DZL), Nestle Zimbabwe and the Pig Industry Board.

Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Vangelis Haritatos said exciting times were beaconing in the country’s agriculture sector.

He said the visit by the Belarussian delegation followed a similar visit to Belarus recently by officials from his ministry and he was head of that delegation.

“During our meetings with our Belarussian counterparts, we discussed mutual cooperation in the agricultural sector and they promised to send a high powered delegation.

“This is the high-powered delegation consisting of a deputy prime minister, two deputy ministers as well as director generals of parastatals,” said Haritatos.

He said the Belarussians were paying particular attention to Dairiboard and other players in the dairy industry. Last year, the dairy sector produced 91 million litres of milk against an annual demand of 150 million litres.

“We are still about 40 million litres deficit and they (Belarussians) are willing to help us in our capacity building by assisting our farmers to improve genetics,” Haritatos said.

Zayets said his country was keen to assist companies like Dairiboad with modern technology to enable them to produce more for both their domestic and foreign markets. New Ziana