South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for deeper cooperation between South Africa and Zimbabwe on biosecurity and agricultural trade, citing recent outbreaks of animal diseases that have disrupted livestock sectors in the region.
Speaking during the official opening of the 115th edition of the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show in Harare, Ramaphosa urged regional collaboration to fight transboundary threats such as foot-and-mouth disease, which has resurfaced in several Southern African countries.
Zimbabwe, has battled recurring outbreaks of foot and mouth and tick-borne diseases like theileriosis, which have affected growth of the sector and heavily impacted rural livelihoods.
“Biosecurity is an area we must step up our cooperation as neighbours,” said Ramaphosa.
“Outbreaks of foot and mouth disease and other animal diseases demand that we should pool our resources together.”
The South African leader also called on private sector actors from Zimbabwe and South Africa to use the Zimbabwe agricultural show as a platform to strengthen economic partnerships.
“I was particularly impressed by how you are improving agriculture by empowering small holder farmers,” he said.
Ramaphosa also commended President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s led government on policies to revive the agricultural sector in the face of climate change.
“We congratulate the government of Zimbabwe for the measures it is taking to revive the country’s agricultural sector through policy reforms, investment in irrigation and mechanisation, and empowering large and small scale farmers”.
“We know that the agricultural sector has been heavily affected by the growing impacts of the changing climate.
Severe drought has impacted crop yields in recent years”, added Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa’s visit, comes amid growing economic ties between the two neighboring countries.
