THE United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with government on Saturday commissioned the country’s largest livestock semen processing and cryopreservation centre at the Matopos Research Institute.
In a statement, UNDP said the centre will play a significant role to enhance food security and agricultural resilience.
The centre is the second largest in southern Africa with the capacity to boast and process 3 million livestock semen straws annually.
UNDP said it aims to preserve the genetic diversity of valuable livestock breeds, including indigenous varieties such as Tuli, Mashona, Afrikander and Nkone.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development minister Anxious Masuka unveiled the facility valued at over US$400 000, which is set to revolutionise livestock breeding in Zimbabwe.
“This centre is among the ministry’s efforts towards attainment of the Agriculture Food Systems and Rural Transformation Strategy which seeks to increase agricultural productivity for national food security and food sovereignty, regardless of the weather,” he said.
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“Our cluster remains a major contributor to key indicators of Zimbabwe’s economy GDP [gross domestic product], employment, growth of the rural economy and inclusive growth, export earnings, import substitution.”
UNDP resident representative for Zimbabwe Ayodele Odusola said: “This partnership strengthens Zimbabwe’s national climate resilience agenda. Like much of sub-Saharan Africa, the country faces recurring climatic shocks that severely impact smallholder rain-fed agriculture, with far-reaching consequences for socio-economic development.
“We believe that this support will complement the government’s thrust to achieve the climate adaptation milestones as outlined in the country’s revised nationally determined contributions.”