Minister of Lands Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Dr. Anxious Masuka has vowed to continue working during the time when the pandemic is killing other top government officials saying his vision is to serve the nation from hunger and starvation in 2021.
This comes after a lot of concerns from different stakeholders fearing that the Minister is exposing himself and the team to the pandemic by engaging a number of people on a daily basis.
Speaking to GreatDykeNews24, Dr Masuka said he is aware that Zimbabwe cannot afford to miss out on an opportunity that averts starvation this year.
“I am aware of the risks that working in these times of Covid19 presents to myself and the rest of the team, however, I’m equally aware that Zimbabwe cannot afford to miss out on an opportunity that averts starvation this year.
“Unlike a number of sectors, agriculture has a limited time period and therefor it is important that whilst we take all the measures to protect ourselves from infections, we go full out to make sure that Zimbabwe has a successful agricultural season.
“Imagine the catastrophe of a serious Covid 19 pandemic on top of the disastrous agricultural season. Kindly bear with us all. We are doing is to save Zimbabwe from a livelihood crisis,” he said.
The government has set in motion a host of programmes meant to breathe life into the agriculture sector’s fortunes and get the country’s agro-based economy ticking once again.
In light of COVID-19, ensuring that the food system is more sustainable and resilient is now an even more urgent priority.
The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to learn more about chokepoints and vulnerabilities in the food system, in order to identify necessary investments and reforms that would further strengthen the resilience of the sector to a range of future shocks and challenges.
