THE African Development Bank is to provide US$3,5 million to bankroll the establishment of agro-industrial parks in Zimbabwe and Zambia, according to Industry and Commerce minister, Sekai Nzenza.
An agro-industrial park is an area of intensive agricultural production that seeks to integrate all facets of the agricultural value chain from pre-production to production, post-harvesting and marketing.
Zimbabwe and Zambia agreed during an African Union (AU) summit in Ethiopia two weeks ago to work on a pilot project for the development of Common African Agro-Parks called CAAPs, which will be used as a template across the continent.
African industry ministers agreed during the summit that CAAPs were an important part of the operational phase of the African Continental Free Trade Area, a US$3,4 trillion bloc, which aims to create a single continental market for goods and services.
CAAPs are seen as an important part of the region’s efforts to address famine.
About 283 million Africans are said to be going to bed hungry daily, according to a World Bank report.
In an interview with Standardbusiness, Nzenza said the funding would be shared among the two countries.
“The African Development Bank has made a commitment to fund U$3,5 million which will be shared between Zimbabwe and Zambia,” Nzenza said.
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“When we went there (to the AU) Afreximbank and AU signed a MoU where Afreximbank is going to be a financial partner.
“In the second phase, we are going to do a valuation chain mapping where we are going (in order) to see in which areas is Zimbabwe strong, and in which areas Zambia is strong…and how we can tap into each other’s value chain. We are still in the first phase where Zambia and Zimbabwe earmarked the creation of a secretariat. Feasibility is ongoing and a financial and technical team (is to be) appointed to look at the financial options,” she said.
Nzenza said the two countries were working on modalities on how to bring the private sector and investors into play.
She said there was need to kick-start funding from financing institutions.
During the AU summit, African industry ministers agreed that implementing CAAPs would help Africa cut a food import bill of US$50 billion, which is currently outsourced to the rest of the world.
“On the implementation of the cross-border agro-parks in Zambia and Zimbabwe, Honourable Chipoka Mulenga, minister of commerce, trade and industry, Zambia, was very optimistic that the common agro-industrial parks would provide food sustainability for Zambia and the continent,” a report from the summit said.
“In her affirmation, Hon. Dr. Sekai Nzenza, minister of Industry and Commerce, Zimbabwe, highlighted that collaboration between Zimbabwe and Zambia is an unforced natural phenomenon, flagging cultural and historical heritages shared by both nations.
“The new era for Zambia–Zimbabwe collaborations have been restated as the CAAPs. As the former breadbasket of southern Africa, Zimbabwe is looking to include CAAPs in its strategy for agricultural recovery.
“It was also discussed that small-holder farmers should be at the centre of the CAAPs initiative as commodities’ quality, quantity, and consistency will inform final production.”
