Govt To Distribute 35,000 Tractors, One Per Village – Masuka

Agriculture, Mechanisation, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Anxious Masuka has said the Government will distribute 35,000 tractors across the country – one for each village.

Masuka said the initiative is intended to modernise agriculture, boost productivity and strengthen national food security ahead of the summer cropping season.

He said under the rural mechanisation drive, every village will be equipped with at least one small tractor in line with the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2).

He added that the Government is keen to support Village Business Units (VBUs) in all 35,000 villages, transforming traditional subsistence farming into productive, market-oriented rural enterprises.

“The President, in the next two months, will be launching a mechanisation programme for 35 000 villages, so that each village, in our view, must have a tractor suitable for their circumstances,” said Masuka.

“I expect that innovative businesses will see a business opportunity in establishing an assembling plant for tractors, but also to go further to begin to manufacture them. So that is a business opportunity.

“As Government, we have visited two countries where we feel we can start localisation of the assembly of these tractors.”

He was speaking during the recent Zimbabwe Industrialisation Conference and Expo (ZICE 2026).

“The tractor fleet was 7 500 in 2017, and we are currently sitting at 17 800 tractors. I expect another 5 000 tractors to be coming soon because we have 11 dealers that we are working with,” he said.

However, former ZANU PF Mashonaland West provincial chairman Temba Mliswa has dismissed the plan, describing it as “fanciful thinking”.

“The Minister is swiftly cultivating a reputation for ambitious initiatives that lack grounding in feasibility,” said Mliswa.

“During the 2021 Waternet Symposium for Integrated Water Resource Management, aimed at Sustainable Development in Eastern and Southern Africa, he made another audacious proclamation concerning boreholes.

“Masuka asserted that by 2024, every village and school would possess a borehole, citing an ambitious target of 35,000 boreholes for villages and an additional 9,600 for schools.

“Regrettably, this promise has not come to fruition, exposing it as mere posturing.

“Now, he pivots to tractors, touting an ambitious plan for 35,000 tractors for villages.

“Having previously faltered with the water initiative, he now seeks to impress with agricultural machinery! This is nothing short of fanciful thinking.”