119 Mlezu students graduate

KWEKWE – A total of 119 students comprising 36 women and 83 men recently graduated from Mlezu
Agricultural College.
Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Davies Marapira said
the graduation of the students reaffirmed government’s commitment to develop young people and
take an active interest in agriculture education.
“It is worth noting that the future of agriculture in our country lies in the hands of young men and
women who are from colleges and other institutions of higher learning.
“It is therefore critically important that the graduates take their position now in this important
economic sector in order to sustain food security for the masses,” said Marapira.
The Deputy Minister was pleased to witness the injection of another group of young agriculture
professionals into the agriculture sector.
“An increase in the number of agriculture practitioners translate into improved agriculture
production and productivity, especially in the rural areas where 70 percent of the population derive
their livelihoods from agriculture,” he said.
He encouraged the graduates to ensure that they feed the nation using the knowledge they have
acquired over the years of their study.
“The qualification that you have obtained puts you in a better position and authority to lead in the
production of food for our people and I trust that you will use the qualification to improve
agriculture in provinces,” he said.
The minister said graduates must not be produced to look for jobs but should have entrepreneurial
skills to go into farming and become competitive players in commercial agriculture.
“The government successfully transformed our education curricula from Agriculture Education 2.0,
whose outputs were trainers and extensionists, to Agricultural Education for Development 5.0
curricula which is one of the milestones in Agriculture and Food Transformation Strategy, a key pillar
for the National Development Strategy 1,” he said.
Marapira said the new Agricultural Education for Development (AE4D 5.0) system seeks to focus on
five objectives which include training, business advisory, research, innovation and entrepreneurship.
He said government capacitated all eight Agricultural Colleges with new tractors, accessory planters
and motor cycles for practical student training.