Photo courtesy of the Agriculture and Food Ministry of Belarus
MINSK, 6 June (BelTA) – Belarus' Agriculture and Food Minister Yuri Gorlov has met with Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development of Zimbabwe Vangelis Haritatos, BelTA learned from the press service of the Agriculture and Food Ministry.
The Zimbabwean delegation came to Belarus to take part in the Belagro 2025 international exhibition. This visit was part of Zimbabwe's efforts to expand cooperation with Belarus in the agricultural sector.
The parties discussed proposals to increase and diversify agricultural supplies. As far as trade in agricultural products is concerned, in 2024 Belarus exported skim milk powder to this African country and imported citrus fruits and flowers. However, experts believe that this is not the limit.
According to the Agriculture and Food Ministry, in March 2024, a Zimbabwean delegation toured Belarusian dairy companies, and after that Belarusian enterprises began exporting dairy products to Zimbabwe. The form of the veterinary certificate for such deliveries has also been agreed upon. At the moment, Belarusian companies are working on issues related to packaging and logistics that have to be resolved before entering the Zimbabwean market.
“Our goal is not just to maintain momentum, but to increase the supplies of dairy products, including baby food, and to develop partnerships in other areas,” Yuri Gorlov emphasized.
“Zimbabwe's milk demand is estimated at 130 million liters per year, and we currently produce 120 million liters. We are interested in ramping up the output of this product. We also want to buy sunflower oil and agricultural machinery,” Vangelis Haritatos said. He also spoke highly of educational level of agricultural specialists and the agricultural management practices of Belarus.
This year Zimbabwe might be recognized as a country that has fully ensured food security. According to the representative of the Zimbabwean delegation, this was achieved largely due to the agricultural mechanization drive that also involved the use of Belarusian machinery.
“Highly productive machinery from Belarus helped us make the most of our land resources and dramatically increase agricultural productivity. We should keep it up and scale up our partnerships to achieve even greater results,” Vangelis Haritatos said.
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