The Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda) has secured a partner to revive its tomato paste operations in the country, chairman Basil Nyabadza has said.

Speaking to journalists, Nyabadza said the identified partner is expected to pour in $2 million for the first phrase of the project which will entail reviving ARDA’s Zagrinda plant in Norton.

“We’ve identified a partner for our paste operations which we jointly own with the Development Trust of Zimbabwe (DTZ). We’re fortunate that the new partner is also involved in food processing, so the firm will bring expertise and finance. The capital expenditure they bring in will determine the shareholding they can snap up.

“The first phase of the project will see us resuscitating our Zagrinda plant in Norton which we hope can be bought back to production in the shortest possible time. The plant is in good working condition, all we need is working capital for raw materials. A budget of $2 million is enough to kick start the program,” he said.

Nyabadza said the firm will contract small scale farmers to grow specific tomato varieties that will be fed into the plant for both domestic use and exports. He said the plant will also process mangoes and guavas, providing a viable market for growers.

“We’re targeting the fish industry in Namibia which is where the bulk of our tomatoes will go; the Namibians currently rely on pastry from China. We hope to process 60t of tomatoes a day.” he added.

Nyabadza said the second phase of the project will see the installation of a new plant in Esigodini which had become a white elephant.

He said this will fulfil the vision of late Vice President Joshua Nkomo who championed the acquisition of the plant in the late 90s; however the plant has never been commissioned and has been lying idle since then.

He said the first phase is expected to take root before the end of the year. Speaking on Livestock, Nyabadza said Arda is reviving its projects in Matabeleland North.

“We’re doing our fencing, our water management issues and seeing that material for breeding is available. We’re also availing bulls to the villages, if there’s cross fertilisation, a better breed can be realised,” he said.

He said Arda is also planning to establish an expansive milling facility in Matabeleland that will provide mealie-meal to the region so as to ward off imports. — Online.