Zimbabwean farmers will work with Chinese companies in joint ventures to grow crops demanded in the Asian country as part of programmes under the first three-year plan unveiled recently by President XI Jinping during a Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Speaking at a post-Cabinet briefing this week, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said Zimbabwe was going to draw up bankable projects riding on the Chinese initiatives.

She said Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister, Ambassador Frederick Shava, presented to Cabinet a report on the 8th Ministerial Conference of FOCAC, held from 29 to 30 November, in Dakar Senegal, under the theme “Deepening the Sino-African Partnership and Promoting Sustainable Development to Build a China-Africa Community with a Shared Future in the New Era”.

The Conference reviewed progress made in the implementation of the eight major initiatives of the 2018 FOCAC Beijing Summit and the Beijing Action Plan where President Xi Jinping announced initiatives to strengthen China-Africa cooperation.

The programmes to be implemented are in the medical and health sectors, poverty reduction, trade promotion and cultural and people to people exchange programmes.

“Regarding poverty reduction and agricultural development programme — China will undertake 10 poverty-reduction and agricultural projects for Africa as well as send 500 agricultural experts to Africa, including setting up a number of China-Africa joint centres for modern agro-technology exchange, demonstration and training in China.

“The Government of Zimbabwe will ensure that Chinese companies work together with local farmers in joint ventures to grow crops such as soyabeans, cotton, groundnuts and tobacco which are in demand in China. These crops will be processed before export in line with the FOCAC Vision 2035 on promoting secondary industry in Africa,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.

“To benefit more from FOCAC, Zimbabwe will prepare bankable projects to take advantage of these Chinese initiatives.”

Under the Medical and Health Programme — China pledged to provide one billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines, including 600 million as direct donations and 400 million doses to be jointly produced by Chinese and identified African countries in order to help Africa achieve its goal of vaccinating 60 percent of its population by 2022.

“Zimbabwe will make a submission to be one of those African countries,” she said.

Minister Mutsvangwa said Cabinet had approved the Government Enterprise Architecture Framework Approach to the modernisation and improvement of the Government of Zimbabwe’s ICT ecosystem presented by Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister Professor Amon Murwira.

“The nation is informed that this framework will digitalise Government operations in a more comprehensive and integrated manner, and it will ensure that internal ICT sub-systems located within various Ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) are interoperable and coordinated,” she said.

“The resultant coordination, rationalisation and optimisation of the Government digital ecosystem will eliminate a lot of duplication, redundancy and corruption through a central interoperability framework.

“This will result in reduced costs and more efficient delivery of quality services to the public.”

The Cabinet, she said, had also considered and approved Zimbabwe’s State party report on the Common Core Document presented by the Attorney-General Advocate Prince Machaya on behalf of the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi.

The Common Core Document is a report on the situation pertaining to the implementation of treaties which the country is party to.

The reporting process constitutes an essential element in the continuing commitment of a State to respect, protect and fulfil the rights set out in the treaties to which it is party.

Another report adopted by Cabinet is that of the International Convention on the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights presented by Advocate Machaya.

The report outlines the right to self-determination referencing the political dispensation in the country which allows holding of elections at regular intervals since 1980; improvements in the electoral system and also how the Constitution provides for the devolution of power and responsibilities to the lower tiers of Government.