By Hwande Sheunesu
Seeing the vast rich soils, beautiful climates, water and human capital well versed in agriculture Mr Oliver Muchazondida could not wait to mobilize a very strong team with the desire to carry Zimbabwe’s agriculture to another level. He pioneers an organization called Coalition of Agricultural Graduates in Zimbabwe (CAGOZ). It is a registered non-governmental organization that is currently depending on self-funds aimed at recruiting agricultural students and graduates, providing mentorship and capacitating them with the required skills to grow the agribusiness.
The new invention has the organization excited since they are receiving commendable support from farmers and professional seekers. They also have the support from the government through the Ministry of Agriculture.
However, they are still facing challenges of funding and fund raising to apprise the organization therefore the organization is open to embracing the well-wishers who have agriculture at heart. Their current engagement with Botswana Agricultural Science Professionals Association (BASPA) shall see the graduates grabbing regional and international opportunities. Speaking on an interview Sir Oliver said the organization was tasked to produce at list 25 000 managers, 50 000 supervisors as well as targeting to employ at list 35 000 graduates. It is trying to engage the funding agencies so that they also go full-time on livelihoods and sustainable Agricultural development, they have engaged the government to have a workable partnership with line ministries, and they have involved fanciers in their matrix to try to find ways to unlock the potential of our membership in agripreneurship
However, due to limited resources the organization is also riding in the wave of technology to mobilize and recruit new membership. In addition, he added that his organization is also looking at what they have and try to build upon that foundation for example individual member projects. He reiterated that there is no reason for Zimbabwe to be hungry and poor when we have the brains, the hands and the soil. This underscore the need for agricultural graduates to expertise and produce enough food for sustainability and improvement of livelihoods.
