Source: The Herald – Breaking news
Walter Nyamukondiwa in CHEGUTU
The pieces to Government’s cotton value addition and beneficiation puzzle are neatly falling into place following Agri-Value Chain (AVC) injection of US$18 million targeting farming, retooling and operationalisation of ginning and spinning of lint plants, extraction and refinery of edible oils in Chegutu and Kadoma.
The first phase will see the David Whitehead fabric processing plant, which is now almost ready for commissioning, producing at least 10 million metres of finished fabric every year.
Through Government’s interlaced policy interventions, including opening up the country for investment, engagement and reengagement, promotion of private sector led economic development, AVC has occupied the once moribund cotton industry value chain.
The cocktail of measures has seen the resuscitation of David Whitehead Textile fabric processing plant in Chegutu giving its derelict equipment and the general clothing and textile industry a new lease of life.
Already the bulk of the equipment for factories in Chegutu and Kadoma which will see the Kadoma Spinning Plant running at full throttle and completion of the David Whitehead fabric processing plant in Chegutu is in the country.
Some of it is already at sea on its way to Zimbabwe with everything expected to be in place by end of September.
Part of the contingent of expatriate specialists who are expected to facilitate initial operationalisation of the plants and skills transfer is already in the country with more expected during the course of the year.
The company now employs about 1 100 workers at its Chegutu and Kadoma plants which swells during the seasonal ginning period.
More are engaged as out-growers for cotton and sunflowers, initially covering 52 000ha but that has since doubled to 110 000ha to feed the extraction and refining plants which has catapulted the country towards edible oils sufficiency through its Zimgold Blend Cooking Oil brand.
AVC chairman Mr Pradyum Kumar Ganediwal said tooling and upgrading to the Kadoma and Chegutu plants was in progress with some of the equipment in transit.
“So far we have received about 40 containers and in total we will be receiving more than 200 containers,” said Mr Ganediwal.
“As we speak, another 65 containers are on the high seas and the rest are under shipment. We expect that by end of August or early September we should be receiving all the consignments. As we receive them, we are also starting installation.”
He said the purpose of the project was to promote import substitution as the country was producing cotton, exporting lint and importing fabric when it could complete the process locally.
Zimbabwe needs at least 50 million metres of fabric per year and AVC seeks to contribute towards meeting local demand.
AVC equipment includes the solvent extraction plant, edible oils refinery, crude palm oil fractionation plants that can express a variety of seeds, including cotton, soya and sunflower, among others
The company has set up an oil refinery in Chegutu which will be operational in the next two weeks to add another piece to the value addition and beneficiation of the cotton and seed farming sector.
The Chegutu factory was acquired from Cargill Zimbabwe in 2017 and moves from traditional cotton ginning to full beneficiation of cotton.
Its refinery plant will process extracted oil from crude oil to refined oil that will be ready for bottling and packaging.
It has capacity to supply crude oil to other companies in the country.
Speaking during a tour of AVC extraction and refinery plants and David Whitehead fabric processing plant, Minister for Presidential Affairs and Monitoring, Implementation of Government Projects Joram Gumbo said the country’s cotton industry had registered solid growth since the coming in of the Second Republic.
“It is regrettable that, despite the solid growth that our cotton industry has experienced in recent years, the country still lacks the capacity and skills within the value chain to take full advantage of local beneficiation,” said Minister Gumbo.
“It is against this background that we welcome the implementation of the Chegutu Factory Processing Plant Expansion Project as part of efforts to develop the cotton value chain.”
The development, he said, dovetails with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) fundamentals, pinning structural transformation on value addition and beneficiation of agricultural products.
It also pushes for decentralised industrialization in resource endowed regions and strengthening of existing value chains.
Mashonaland West provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Mary Mliswa-Chikoka welcomed the development saying it would help boost the province’s Gross Domestic Product.