ARDA estates should be resuscitated

The recent visit by Vice President, Mpelekezele Mphoko, to the Agricultural Rural Development Authority (ARDA),  Balu estate in Umguza, has opened a can of worms. The tomato canning equipment and other machinery sourced by the late Vice President, Joshua Nkomo, soon after independence, is lying idle at the estate.

This was exposed by the visit made by Vice President Mpoko on his familiarization tour. The equipment is in a state of dilapidation with some of it decomposing. It is also not clear to the fate of over 500 dairy cows that were at the estate. Many patriotic and progressive citizens are describing the state of affairs at the estate as tantamount to sabotaging the land reform programme.

The equipment includes storage tanks, piping material, farming equipment, such as tractors and combine harvesters. The late Dr Nkomo's vision, when he acquired these materials, was to have local farmers grow tomatoes and have them canned at the estate. This would be in tandem with the country's economic blue print Zim-Asset on beneficiation.

At this point in time we should have the guts to question the ARDA board and management's commitment to duty. Some are citing incompetence as the root cause of failure as epitomized by the absence of all the managers at the estate. The situation was very pathetic because not even  a single manager was at hand to give answers. Thus it is valid to say that the parastatal is being led by land reform saboteurs; hence, these managers are counter revolutionaries.

ARDA should, by all means, be revived and made responsible for food security in line with Zim-Asset. At the moment the mere mention of  ARDA reminds people of an organization whose hallmarks are poor production, looting of livestock and machinery and general maladministration at its estates dotted throughout the country.

Currently Chisumbanje and Middle Sabi show a different scenario as the management there is a bit competent compared to the rest. Massive projects are being rolled out with about 40 000 hacters of land at Chisumbanje under sugarcane production to produce ethanol, while wheat is being grown on a large scale at Middle Sabi.

It is strategic for ARDA to seek more business opportunities and partnerships to boost investment on its 21 estates in the country which hold about 98 000 hectares of arable land while 19 000 hectares has an irrigable capacity. However, of the 21 estates only Chisumbanje is operating viably.

ARDA should have the zeal to establish joint ventures with individuals and companies in the production of several seed crops. The potential partners must be adequately capitalized to not only providing working capital but also investment capital. ARDA needs new capital to replace its outdated seed processing equipment and to revamp its seed quality laboratory.
For the parastatals to be more vibrant, it needs more capital to renovate buildings, seed storage facilities, guest houses and staff houses. The authority also needs assistance for irrigation infrastructural development at its 28 hectare research plot, near Harare, and support of out- grower seed production schemes and other social investments.

ARDA seeds have the potential to produce and market a number of seed crops which include maize, potatoes, wheat, sorghum, millet, soya beans, sunflower, cow peas and groundnuts among others. The authority is facing viability problems owing largely to lack of fresh capital injection at its underutilized estates. Good corporate governance, coupled with capital injection, will make Zimbabwe the bread basket of Africa.