The Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement, Hon. Vangelis Peter Haritatos said it is key for Zimbabwe to develop highly skilled agriculturalists and development agents that are able to use a combination of scientific and indigenous knowledge to solve real life challenges.
Hon. Haritatos was speaking to 150 people who gathered at Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre in Mount Hampden on December 20, 2019 to witness the capping of the first 26 graduates of who completed the 2 year training on Agroecology facilitated by Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre in partnership with Bindura University of Science Education.
“The aim of the whole programme is to develop proficient agriculturalists and development agents that are relevant to their local communities because of their capacity to apply sound scientific principles blended with indigenous knowledge principles for sustainable agriculture production and generation of knowledge based on solutions to real life challenges,” said Hon. Haritatos.
The Diploma in Agroecology was rolled out in 2017 to respond to the climate crisis and the current unsustainable agriculture system by creating a critical mass of trained professionals in Agroecology that would influence a change in agriculture extension systems.
“This diploma fits into the context of the eventualities that we are facing as a country. For the past seasons the country has been hit by incessant droughts exacerbated by the festation of pests and diseases. As such this discipline has multiple benefits including increasing food security and resilience, boosting livelihoods and local economies, diversifying food production and diet, “said Hon. Haritatos.
The Director of Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre, Lewis Kudzanai Mashingaidze stressed the important role of Agroecology in addressing climate change.
“This environment we have today has been borrowed from the unborn and when you borrow something you need to take care of it because the owner is yet to come. We need to push this Agenda [Agroecology] for the survival of our country,” said Lewis.