Arda Opens 260 000-Name Land Queue, Dangles US224 M Profit Promise
Zimbabwe’s Agricultural and Rural Development Authority will turn its 97 estates into a crowd-funded farming fund under a new plan that pledges land to 260 000 waiting applicants and 10 000 diasporans.
The VIAM Vision Agriculture model pools investor deposits, assigns plots on Arda-operated blocks and targets 735 000 t of maize, wheat and sorghum worth US297 million a year, documents released on Tuesday show.
Prospective growers will buy into a unit trust rather than receive title, eliminating the old problem of subdividing farms too small to mechanise.
Projected gross margin is US224 million, leaving an annual operating profit of US189 million to be shared among contributors, Arda and the Treasury.
Land seekers already on the ministry database will be prioritised, while exporters with stranded foreign earnings can swap them for fund shares.
Director of commercial services Dominic Sadziwa says the first close is planned for June 2026, with pilot plantings on 12 000 ha of irrigated land in Chiredzi and Mkoba.
Government hopes the structure will ease pressure on communal grazing areas and stem urban-to-rural migration triggered by job losses.
Analysts warn success hinges on transparent audits and reliable input supply; previous joint-venture schemes collapsed when state entities failed to honour grain-offtake contracts.
Source: The Herald
