eBusiness Weekly
Business Writer
Zimbabwe and Zambia will conduct a detailed feasibility study on Environmental and Socio-economic Impact Assessment (ESIA) for Common Agro-Industrial Parks (CAIP), an official said.
The two countries are jointly exploring various value chain possibilities through the establishment of a CAIP, focusing on cotton, maize, wheat, rice, soya beans, sugar, livestock, leather as well as dairy following the singing of a Memorandum and Understanding (MoU) in March 2021.
With support from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and the sub-regional office for southern Africa, milestones achieved to date include, the development of a detailed roadmap and action plan, a pre-feasibility study on the proposed CAIP between the two countries and a study on the regulatory and policy framework.
The programme is expected to harness comparative advantages in both countries, anchored on agriculture-based industrial development to create synergies in resource utilisation and enhance the competitive advantage of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). An important milestone in the industrialization of African agriculture the CAAPs will help the implementation of the AfCFTA.
Speaking during the investors’ roundtable for the implementation of CAAPS recently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Sekai Nzenza said it is imperative that the cost and benefits of the CAIP on the environment and socio-economic landscapes particularly in the possible agro-ecological locations be ascertained through the detailed feasibility study.
“An ESIA study would map the environmentally-sensitive assets in the CAIP while ensuring the anticipated socio-economic gains strengthen the MoU’s aspirations of inclusive growth that meets Zimbabwe and Zambia’s needs for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the continental Industrialization Agenda 2063. Conducting the ESIA study also entails outlining the compensation mechanisms for those earmarked to lose land due to the establishment of the CAIP,” she said.
Dr Nzenza said it was imperative that sustainability issues be mainstreamed into the CAIP initiative at the planning stage.
