The Raregold Effect: Sowing Something More Than Crops – An Agricultural Revival for the Nation

By Ilyana Sithole

The atmosphere was charged with possibility at the inaugural Raregold Agricultural Excellence Expo 2025, a vibrant testimony to the surging agrarian existence of our nation. Held in the picturesque Raregold Resort within Glenforest, Harare, the vision of ambitious Mrs. Sarudzayi Mboweni proved to be more than a function; it was a fertile soil for collaboration, a showcase of creativity, and a deafening testament of dedication backing our food security.

The attendance of Permanent Secretary Professor Dr. Obert Jiri added considerable weight to the event. His own passionate support for the Expo’s function in uniting people and advancing agricultural practice struck a chord. Professor Jiri astutely identified Raregold’s innovative and holistic approach, integrating agro-tourism, primary production, and value-added processing into a unified whole. This integrated model, he correctly observed, best captures the essence of the First Lady, Dr. Auxillia Mnangagwa’s Agric4She program, a force to be reckoned with promoting the critical role of women in our agricultural revolution.

The observations made by Professor Jiri served to highlight an important paradigm shift: the reframing of agriculture not just as a source of sustenance, but as a sustainable and commercially economic undertaking. His comment that “nothing here goes to waste” and the creative use of all available inputs by Raregold is a positive inspiration to farmers across the country. The combination of various farming businesses in what appears to be a limited area – varying from fish farming and animals to bees and sheltered agriculture – is a strong image of the potential that can be had with adopting a multi-pot approach. The terminal goal, as he put it, is for agro-enterprises to be self-sustaining enterprises and to draw in outside investment, a high point of agricultural and agro-tourism coordination.

The Permanent Secretary also explained key government programs that are meant to support this agricultural renewal. The emphasis on the intensification of agriculture – producing more on diminishing land with the assistance of efficient machinery – alongside active promotion to value addition and farm-level wealth, is a strategic shift in empowering farmers for higher returns from their produce and making a real contribution to the country’s economy. Platforms such as the Raregold Expo, as well as regional field days, are critical in spreading these concepts and driving innovation in agriculture.

Additionally, Professor Jiri presented a good account of the 2024-25 agriculture season. In spite of a delayed start and mid-season drought, the general rainfall pattern was good, resulting in full dam levels across most provinces and a marked increase in crop yields, especially maize and staple grains. Despite warning against direct comparison to last year’s drought-affected harvest, his early NDVI readings and the expected positive yields from the CLFA II are indicative of a harvest in surplus of national human consumption needs. This encouraging scenario is an immediate consequence of the tireless efforts by our farmers and the favorable policies now being executed.

The Inaugural Raregold Expo 2025, then, was not just an event; it was a catalyst that brought a renewed sense of possibility and optimism to the agricultural industry. Mrs. Mboweni’s vision has given us a real-world manifestation of what is possible through innovation, hard work, and an inclusive approach. When farmers and stakeholders left Raregold Resort, they did not take with them memories of a successful expo only, but renewed purpose and the motivating knowledge that an agricultural renaissance is not fantasy, but actuality in the crafting of our fields. The seeds of reform have been sown, and the nation eagerly awaits the fruitful harvest of this dawn.