{"id":1694,"date":"2026-02-01T06:36:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T06:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/?p=1694"},"modified":"2026-02-01T06:36:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T06:36:24","slug":"rural-development-directorate-rolls-out-agro-based-industrialisation-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/2026\/02\/01\/rural-development-directorate-rolls-out-agro-based-industrialisation-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"Rural Development Directorate Rolls Out Agro-Based Industrialisation Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>By Fanuel Chinowaita<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"994\" data-id=\"1695\" src=\"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/31452-1024x994.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1695\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/31452-1024x994.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/31452-300x291.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/31452-768x746.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/31452.jpg 1076w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Operations Director for Rural Development and Industrialisation, Washington Katiyo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Harare, 1 February 2026 &#8211; <\/strong>The Rural Development and Industrialisation Directorate has intensified efforts to transform rural economies through agro-based industrialisation, value addition and public-private partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking during an interview in Harare on Friday, Operations Director for Rural Development and Industrialisation, Washington Katiyo, said the department is focused on commercialising agriculture while developing basic infrastructure to support rural enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Rural Development and Industrialisation Department is advancing the rural development thrust by promoting agro-based industrialisation, developing raw infrastructure and commercialising agriculture,\u201d Katiyo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said value addition remains a key pillar of the programme and is being implemented through the establishment of irrigation-based village business units in rural areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are supporting value addition through the irrigation village business units that we are setting up. As a directorate, we are operationalising these business units to ensure rural communities move beyond primary production,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Katiyo added that the directorate is also advocating for and supporting value addition in rural enterprises through partnerships with the private sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThrough public-private partnerships, we are creating employment, improving household incomes in rural communities, strengthening food security and ensuring a steady supply of industrial raw materials,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said the initiatives are aimed at empowering communities and promoting inclusive and sustainable rural growth.<br>Katiyo also said the directorate is promoting the dairy sector through the establishment and support of milk collection centres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are promoting the dairy sector, particularly through milk collection centres. We currently have 23 milk collection centres that we are supporting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The initiatives are expected to boost rural industrialisation, create jobs and improve livelihoods in line with government\u2019s rural development agenda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Fanuel Chinowaita Harare, 1 February 2026 &#8211; The Rural Development and Industrialisation Directorate has intensified efforts to transform rural economies through agro-based industrialisation, value addition and public-private partnerships. Speaking during an interview in Harare on Friday, Operations Director for Rural Development and Industrialisation, Washington Katiyo, said the department is focused on commercialising agriculture while&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1694"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1696,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1694\/revisions\/1696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}