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Dr. John Basera, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development has won the 2021 President’s Award for Performance Excellence in the Permanent Secretaries category.
In an unprecedented feat, the Agriculture Sector grew by over 36% from USD5.8bn in 2020 to over USD8bn in the 2021 financial year, a target that was envisaged to be achieved in five years up to the year 2025.
In his acceptance speech, Dr. Basera paid tribute to the great teamwork among stakeholders in the agriculture sector.
“I am deeply honoured to receive the President’s Award for Performance Excellence on behalf of the team at Ministry and the Agricultural Sector as a whole. You all did incredibly well and I’m the proudest. Support from other Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), pursuant to the Whole of Government Approach was also top-notch.
“The support and leadership from the Minister and our Deputy Ministers remain beyond adequate tribute. The sector could not have achieved the yester-year feats without the support from everybody; the private sector, development partners, civil society, and more importantly the farming community. #ZimFarmersCan! Teamwork, partnerships, and collaborations will get us further and faster,” Dr. Basera said.
He added that because the five-year target was achieved in one year, the expectation bar is now higher, and encouraged stakeholders to do it again and do it better.
“All hands must be on the deck and all eyes on the goal, as we journey towards Vision 2030 as pronounced by His Excellency, The President. We should leave no one, no place, no ‘thing’, no demography behind, and no stone unturned as we play the Agriculture Transformation jigsaw. Congratulations to all of you for the incredible Team Success. Wishing you all the very best in the Fiscal Year 2022.”