Zimbabwe: Seminar lays groundwork for rice production

JAPANESE New Rice For Africa (Nerica) expert Tatsushi Tsuboi, who is in the country at the invitation of Agric4She Patron First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, has conducted a seminar with officials from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development to lay the groundwork for large-scale rice production in Zimbabwe. This comes at a time when authorities are working on a rice policy to ensure the nation achieves self-sufficiency in rice production as part of the Agric4She empowerment initiative. Over 80 percent of rice sold and consumed in the country is imported, chewing over US$100 million. Currently, Zimbabwe's annual rice production is at 2 908 tonnes against a national requirement of 300 000 tonnes. In a speech read on her behalf by Dr Dumisani Kutywayo, the chief director, Department of Research and Specialist Services in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development during the recent rice seminar workshop in Harare, the ...