WITH the 2022/23 summer cropping season in full swing, the Midlands Provincial
Integrated Youth Development Centre has shifted focus to train young farmers on
producing fodder crops, which are vital for supplementing cattle diet.
This is in line with the Government’s policy to mainstream participation of the
youths in national programmes in line with Vision 2030, which advocates leaving
no demography behind.
Agriculture is one of the major pillars of the country’s economy, hence the
Government’s thrust to empower youths, who constitute 62 percent of the total
population of Zimbabwe.
In an interview yesterday, the Midlands provincial livestock officer, Zivanai
Matore, said:
“We have 99 head of cattle at the youth hub farm along Kwekwe-Mvuma Road
and we are looking forward to grow fodder grasses and other forage plants such as
lablab, sun hemp and velvet beans, which are rich in protein. We reserved 10
hectares for the project.
“Youths in the province will benefit from practical lessons on forage and fodder
production for livestock,”
Apart from educating youths on how to produce fodder, the centre also acts as a
demonstration site for good animal husbandry practices.
“The centre actually acts as a demonstration site, where youths come and learn
new skills for improving animal rearing. The youths are learning good animal
husbandry practices – how to feed the animal properly, how to breed them and their
health among things. The ultimate goal is to enable our youths to do the most of
the agriculture enterprises,” said Matore.
He added that their vision was to increase agricultural ventures at the youth
development centre and make sure youths had access to land to practise
agriculture.
The President last year directed each provincial minister to identify a 500-hectare
piece of land, which would be dedicated to youth’s projects as part of the
Government’s policy to ensure youths participated in national programmes.
The Government has pledged its full support through several agriculture-enhancing
projects as the youths strive to take part in the turning around of the country’s
agricultural fortunes.
