The ZAGP team welcomes you to the 30th issue of ZAGP News, the newsletter for the European Union (EU) funded Zimbabwe Agricultural Growth Programme (ZAGP).
As we draw closer to the end of 2021, in this bumper issue we share with you our valued readers, success stories from the implementation of various interventions under the programme. ZAGP has achieved a number of key milestones towards achieving the key project outcomes of increasing production and productivity, ensuring access to competitive markets and increasing investments in livestock value chains. Good progress has also been made in improving agricultural education systems, research and extension services and strengthening of institutions.
We share inspiring stories and the voices of the beneficiaries whose livestock production enterprises have been transformed by the programme’s interventions. Under the BEST project, we highlight the benefits of supplementary feeding and pen fattening, which have been a game changer for beef cattle producers who are now enjoying significant improvements in incomes from sales of their animals.
The TranZDVC project’s dairy graduation model is offering small-scale dairy producers a growth path from one level to the next, as the project seeks to increase milk production in Zimbabwe, in line with National Development Strategy 1 aspirations. We focus on dairy producers who have graduated from being small to medium-scale producers and have turned around their dairy enterprises.
Elsewhere in this issue, we highlight how the Agricultural Centres of Excellence (ACEs) established under the ZAKIS project have improved the delivery of education within agricultural colleges, covering progress made so far at Chibero College of Agriculture, one of the two ACEs established by the project.
The VALUE project’s efforts towards improving goat and pig breeds are bearing fruit, with exotic breeds of breeding bucks delivered to the Goat Improvement Centres (GICs) and to farmer groups across the project’s 12 target districts. Pig producers are also now accessing improved breeds in the form of weaners, breeding gilts and boars from the Integrators in the Mashonaland East and West production corridors. We carry stories from farmers who have benefited from the improved pig breeds and also how collective action by pig producers is addressing logistical challenges they face.
On the animal health side, we share progress made by the SAFE project towards building the capacity of the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) structures to be better able to provide services for animal disease prevention, early detection, diagnosis and control.
Finally, under the IPVC project, we provide the story of a poultry producer who is reaping the benefits of membership to a Poultry Business Association (PBA), taking poultry production to a different level.
We hope you enjoy this issue and as usual, we value your feedback.