Bilateral meeting with the Minister for Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development of Zimbabwe - The Honourable, Anxious Jongwe Masuka

Rome – FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and The Honourable, Anxious Jongwe Masuka, Minister for Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development of the Republic of Zimbabwe, met today on the sidelines of the 43rd Session of the FAO Conference.

The Minister congratulated the Director-General on the extraordinary re-election results affirming him for a second term. He applauded the vision and achievements during the Director-General’s first term. In particular, the Minister thanked the Director-General for FAO’s technical support in progressing aquaculture development in Zimbabwe, highlighting the enhanced fingerling production and develop hatchery facilities, in line with the harmonized national Fisheries and Aquaculture Bill currently being developed.

The Director-General complimented the Minister on the advancements made under his guidance, especially for promoting the aquaculture sector, highlighting the need for sustainable protein sources. He proceeded to explain that the developments in the sector would have an enormous effect on the economic development of Zimbabwe, and Africa as a whole, and for the transformation of agrifood systems and rural development.

The Minister and the Director-General concluded by expressing their mutual commitment to continue working together to address food security and nutrition, building resilience to climate change and agricultural threats and crises, and on the sustainable management of natural resources and environmental protection.