Welcoming ZMX to Prestigious Line up of Organizations at Rural Economic Development Forum!

'WE CANNOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT LAST YEAR’S HARVEST, BUT WE CAN ABOUT THIS YEAR’S!'

‘But the one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.’ Philippians 3:13

Focusing attention towards rural areas, bringing knowledge, capacity, and investment to transform communities.

With Zimbabwe, and the wider Southern African region experiencing the worst drought in 40 years, partnerships for recovery and resilience are vital now, more than ever.

The First High-level Rural Economic Development Forum will take place this 10 – 11 September, here in Harare, Zimbabwe. ‘Transformation Pathways to Resilient Livelihoods, and Unlocking Rural Potential’ will be the theme of the Forum.

The forum is a convening to foster conversation that leads to action and maximizing opportunity for impact. By sharing knowledge and experiences, the aim is to outline practical steps for safeguarding food security in an environment of climate shocks, all while promoting local led economic development through agricultural development.

We are pleased to welcome the Zimbabwe Mercantile Exchange to the roster of participating organisations in the inaugural RED Forum which is promising to be an inspiring and informative event. ZMX, a pioneering member of the AfCFTA Association of Commodities Exchanges (A-ACX), will share their innovation strategies in partnering with private sector for the development of infrastructure that supports a structured commodities trading system.

This is not only helping current drought responses, but is expected to speed up smallholder farmers’ access to financing, and mitigate post-harvest losses, including for horticultural crops.

Partnership with the commercial banking sector and financial services providers, including micro finance institutions that are expected to unlock financing for agricultural production and total funding around farmers’ needs through the Warehouse Receipt System will be discussed.

Agricultural development has taken centre stage since H.E. President E.D. Mnangagwa’s, where he made clear that this was a priority, emphasizing agriculture as the bedrock of overall economic recovery and growth.

The RED Forum is cultivating impactful convening of top leaders, thinkers and implementers in Zimbabwean agriculture and rural development from across the private, public, development and non-profit, academic and research sectors. Stakeholders will have the opportunity to interact with high-level, diverse group of delegates, allowing each one to derive specific benefits from the RED Forum.

I hope you can join the dialogue as we seek to enhance an alliance for resilience – the cornerstone of leaving no one behind!

Let’s come together, share our insights, and cultivate rural resilience. Together, we can turn challenges into opportunities, and build a future of improved economic, environmental and social wellbeing for communities.