A delegation from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), drawn from Lualaba Province, is in Zimbabwe on a benchmarking and agricultural investment scoping mission aimed at drawing lessons from the country’s agro-industrial development model.
The delegation, led by the Minister of Land Affairs, Agriculture, Fisheries, Breeding and Rural Development, Jean-Pierre Kalenga Mupatale, toured several agro-industrial facilities in Norton and Harare, this Wednesday, as part of efforts to identify scalable agricultural transformation models for implementation back home.
Speaking after a visit to Best Fruit Processors in Norton, Mupatale said Zimbabwe’s model was practical and could be replicated in the DRC given its resource base.
“What we have seen, we can duplicate it easily in Congo because we have the raw materials. What remains is the processing side and how we organise rural communities to participate in the value chain,” he said.
He said the mission forms part of broader efforts to strengthen cooperation and knowledge exchange between Zimbabwe and the DRC in agricultural modernisation, productivity enhancement and value addition.
“This mission is part of our ongoing efforts to learn from successful agricultural systems in the region, particularly in areas such as irrigation, seed production, storage infrastructure and agro-processing,” he said.
The delegation visited Best Fruit Processors in Norton, the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) Aspindale Depot, National Foods, DripTech and Seed Co Stapleford, where they were exposed to Zimbabwe’s integrated agricultural value chains.
Agricultural and Rural Development Authority director Washington Katiyo, who accompanied the delegation, said the visited facilities aligned with priority investment areas identified by the DRC, particularly in seed production, storage infrastructure and fruit processing.
He said the delegation expressed satisfaction with Zimbabwe’s agro-industrial capacity and progress in strengthening resilient agricultural systems.
The tour covered key areas including seed development, irrigation technologies, grain handling systems, storage infrastructure and large-scale food processing operations.
Zimbabwe’s agro-industrial model, officials said, offers practical lessons that can be adapted to support agricultural transformation, industrialisation and rural development in the DRC.
“These value chains demonstrate how agriculture can be transformed into a driver of industrial growth and food security. We are particularly interested in how Zimbabwe has integrated production, processing and distribution systems,” Mupatale said.
The visit is expected to deepen bilateral cooperation and open new opportunities for investment, technology transfer and joint ventures in the agricultural sector.
